For the LOVE
by TheLadyBlueWolf
Summary: 20 year since the barrier has been broken and there is no sign of Frisk after they dissappeared. Are they dead? Can Sans deal with that? Can anyone?
1. Where it all starts for us

For the LOVE

The room was full of beeping machines and I could smell that gag-inducing scent of industrial cleaner that every hospital uses. I didn't want to open my eyes. If I could keep them closed, nothing would be real yet. Not that I knew what was real. I had been in this place for three days now. Nothing was changing. Fragments of dreams (or were they memories?) kept skittering behind my eyes while I laid there. I had been in a car accident, my best friend Liz had been in the driver seat, when we had been t-boned by a drunk. Liz had walked away but I was laid up with a few bruised ribs and a concussion. That's what we get for celebrating right?

I figured that they would be releasing me today. Liz was due by any minute now and hopefully the paperwork for my release would be along shortly afterwards. Opening my eyes, the puke-pink walls of the hospital seem to glare back at me. I had seen too much of this hospital when I was younger that I now refused to wear ANYTHING pink. As I began to sit up, monitors beeped in warning alerting the nurses right outside.

"Morning sleepy-head! Your sister should be by soon. We need to be finishing your last few checks so you can go home today. Let's get your temp and heartrate…. You gave us a bit of a fright last night…"

"Last night? How?" I asked annoyed. What did they do all night? Watch me sleep? Creeps.

"You were shouting in your sleep. Sounded like a bad dream. Your sister said that might happen and said to turn on the music she had brought in. Once we did that, you seemed to quiet right back to sleep. Freaked us all out though…." She kept checking my vitals while she yammered on.

"Yeah…. Sorry about that. Happens every once in a while. I don't really like hospitals." I hadn't liked hospitals since I had woken up in this exact one about twenty years ago with absolutely nothing for memories.

"Well, everything seems fine. I'll let the doctor know you are ready." She smiled as she walked out the door.

'Yay….' I thought. 'I get to go home to my "sister"' Liz had been playing the "sister" card whenever I had to go to the hospital for as long as I could remember. Her family had never officially adopted me but we had been super close from the minute we had met in the elementary school cafeteria. Nothing like quite bonds people like mutual misery.

Her parents had split in a rather ugly divorce and I had been a ward of the state since I had woken in a hospital and informed that my family (not that I remembered them) was dead. It hadn't been long till we were actual friends, relying on each other when everything seemed to be against us. We weren't attracted to each other (but played the occasional lesbian couple when the need arose) bet when I had to leave CPS, we moved in together. So, when I had the occasional hiccup at school or work and blacked out, she claimed she was my sister and was able to be right by my side.

Speak of the devil and they shall appear….

"Hey lazy bones! How ya doin'?" Liz suddenly appeared in the doorway as if summoned by my thoughts.

"Not bad…. Apparently I had an interesting night but I don't remember anything."

"Normal shit then? Cool." She crossed the room to sit at my right side. She was a pretty girl, 5'4", with long wavy light brown hair. Little on the heavier scale than she would've liked but that didn't stop her sense of fashion. Turning her blue eyes to the machines and placing her latest purple backpack on the floor near my bed, she flopped into the chair beside me. I could see she still had a few scrapes on her face under all the makeup but other than that she seemed fine.

"I'm good. I'm ready to get out of here."

"Good. I'm making dinner tonight. This time we will celebrate at home."

I smiled as I used the remote to change the bed into a more comfortable position. We had been celebrating my recent job hiring as a receptionist working with the Pro-Monster Association. It had been my dream job since the monsters had first started emerging from Mt. Ebott. Who better to help them find a place (and peace) in the world than a woman who had worked so hard to find her own?

"So unless someone launches their shitty Chevy Impala up six floors, we won't be interrupted again?"

"Don't even joke about that Lauren…." Liz hit me with a stern look.

She never called me my legal name unless I made her uncomfortable.

"Sorry…" I looked away trying not the show have pissed I was. The name just never seemed like mine. I had sworn off my legal name after they had told me what it was in the hospital the first time. My parents had apparently had my DNA registered after I had run away at age six. Wonder why….

"Look. Let's just get this stupid paperwork over with and then we can go home and you can veg on your computer and watch COPS and be our normal selves again ok?" She reached over and squeezed my hand.

"That sounds so fucking perfect, you have no idea…." Sighing at her, I felt the shadow of a smile on my face.

Now to wait for the damn paperwork.

[Three Hours Later]

"You think my face look ok enough for a YouTube video?" I called from my room.

"Sure…. If you put a bag over it….." Liz answered from the living room.

'You bitch….' I laughed as I began the video. What better way to celebrate then make a video lip-syncing and dancing to Kat McSnatch's "You are a Cunt"? It sure as hell made me feel better.

Laughing until I was pretty sure I broke one of my bruised ribs, I posted the video. I hope that got some people to laugh. My channel was pretty much just Liz and I making fools of ourselves and then the last ten seconds always seemed to be the most awful laughter that could come out of my mouth. Walking down the hall to the smell of some amazing home cooking, I checked a glance at the mirror. Liz had put it at the very last bit of the hallway for 'Last Looks' before you had to see anyone in the living room. My normal waist length brown hair still seemed out of sorts even after a shower, my dull blue eyes had more than enough bags under them to qualify me for the undertaker and nothing could really hide the nasty bruise to the right side of my head. I looked like I always did. Yippee.

"Come eat before you break the mirror dork!" Liz called from the couch.

Our apartment wasn't very big but it was home for us. The living room doubled as a dining room, the actual dining table was covered in bags, crafts, and random bits of mail, so Liz had set up our dinner on the small dark wood coffee table I had found at a GoodWill years before. How she made anything in that tiny galley kitchen, I will never know. Flicking on the TV and surfing until she had found my favorite cop show, we ate her homemade chicken pot pie casserole in silence.

"You ready for your first day?" Liz said breaking the silence.

"Yeah. I'm really glad they didn't expect me to start till tomorrow," I replied.

"Well, at least you had already quit that serving job once you knew it was a done deal. I don't know what I would've done if I had had to see Nick to explain." She shivered. She had dated my manager and had recently broken up with him when she had caught him with a few of the other serving girls…. All at the same time.

"Yeah, I'll be glad to NEVER go back there. Deal?"

"Deal."

Breaking into a fit of giggles we cleaned up the dishes, made lunches of the leftovers and headed down the hall to our rooms for bed.

Before falling asleep, I turned on my music.

[A few miles away in the monster town of Above]

Sans sat on his bed in the semi-dark, the only light coming from the screen of his laptop as he ran through emails. Sleeping through the night had been a thing of the past years ago so why would he start now? Instead he wandered the internet (and all of it's darker places) in hopes of passing out before sunrise.

A ping notified him that a new email had come through. This time from Alphys.

'Probably something about work…. Or some stupid anime thing….' He thought as opened it.

"OMG, YOU TOTALLY HAVE TO WATCH THIS! XDXDXDXD" it said above a link for YouTube.

'I was wrong. More anime shit…. Well, fuck it. I'm not doing anything,' he thought as he clicked on the link. Before him was a young woman, dancing and lip-syncing to some ridiculous song and before he knew it he was laughing so hard his sides hurt. He opened his chat to Alphys and wrote her a quick message.

"that was hilarious! is this what you and undyne have been talking about this whole week?"

"OMGSANS!IDIDN'TMEANTOSENDTHATTOYOU!"

"s'ok. it was pretty funny!"

"YEAH!UNDYNESAWSOMETHINGFROMHERANDWEVEBEENWATCHINGALLHERVIDEOS! PRETTYGREAT!"

"cool. see ya at work tomorrow. night."

Closing his laptop, he placed it on the floor of his room. His room was pretty much a carbon copy of the one he had had in the underground, including the tornado and his complete lack of organization. Just because he had moved to Above with the rest of the monsters, hadn't meant he would change. Actually, a small part of him had wanted to change, but that had disappeared as quickly as Frisk had.

Laying back on his bed, he closed his eye sockets, hoping for a dreamless sleep.

He wasn't so lucky.

[After the Destruction of the Barrier]

They had done it! Finally, the barrier was gone, Frisk hadn't shown any homicidal tendencies, and together all of their friends were leaving the Underground! Sans turned his head to smile at Frisk while Papyrus took his first look at the world.

It was like something out of a horrible movie. One minute Frisk was standing beside him, smiling with tears in their eyes. Then the ground seemed to open and swallow them whole. He hadn't been quick enough to grab them with his magic. They just disappeared into nothing.

Everyone began to scream. There was no hole back into the Underground. There was no trace they had existed. They searched the entire Underground, Sans even took one of his shortcuts to visit Flowey's garden. Nothing. Soon the monsters began to lose hope. Some even thought they had imagined Frisk. Maybe they had been an angel in disguise, sent to rescue them?

Sans knew better. Sans had seen that "angel" turn into a demon time and again.

One whole year had passed since the barrier had been broken and the monsters had been building new lives above ground and still Sans searched from time to time. If it had been a Reset, why hadn't he felt it? He would've seen soul if they had died right?

So he stopped looking. He waited every day for a reset. He stopped caring. What good would it do? He still moved in with his brother when Papyrus had said their new house was ready, but he kept it the same. Why put all the effort into changing it if it would all be gone tomorrow?

On the two year anniversary, he tried to die.

Papyrus had caught him in the act and had taken him to Alphys. She had strapped him down on a table for about a day before Papyrus had freaked out and demanded a different way to keep him safe. It still hadn't mattered to Sans. Two years of constant fear had drained him of just about everything. It wasn't until Asgore had come to visit the new lab and talked to him about needed some protection for a meeting he was having with the humans that Sans showed any emotion. Anger was easy to reach for when you are that empty.

Keeping Asgore safe while he had been with a bunch of raving lunatics had felt pretty good to Sans. One or two times he had had to flash his eye and everyone seemed to calm down. It had been the assassination attempt on the way back to Above that had really brought Sans back to reality. If nothing was going to change, then he couldn't just let Asgore die. He had just been saying that Toriel had let her into her home and they were making progress. SO he couldn't let some asshole with a car bomb on the side of the road take them out.

Over his dead fucking body.

He had been able to rein in the GasterBlaster just enough to only cripple the human permanently but not kill him. The human police seemed to appreciate that.

It took a few weeks before he was able to get the clearance to work with Alphys in the new lab after that. He took every day a step at a time. He couldn't let it all pass him by anymore but that didn't mean his nights weren't plagued by the same nightmares that he had had in the past. So usually he filled them with meaningless company some nights (when he could get them past Pap) and others he spent on the computer. He had his friends, he had a decent job, he could still go to Grillby's, but still he felt that emptiness creep inside his breastbone when the sun went down.

At least tonight he had the laughter of a pretty young woman filling his head as he finished his recollections….


	2. Kidnapping is the best form of flattery

For the LOVE

Chapter 2: Kidnapping is the best form of flattery

[Two months after the car accident]

Two weeks at my new job and already I had gotten a promotion to Asgore's personal assistant. My date book was starting to look like an LA socialite's little black book, with personal meetings for Heads of State and Diplomatic conferences. Who knew that after 20 years of monsters roaming the Earth, they would still have issues traveling and just working normal jobs?

My alarm was buzzing from my crappy side table, informing me that it was 8am on Saturday. Who sets an alarm for a Saturday? Oh right…. Me. I had promised Liz I would go to the Mt. Ebott High School for some assembly they were having for their senior class. Something about Human/Monster relations in the real world after schooling. Yay.

I dressed quickly in a pair of dark wash jeans, some band t-shirt Liz had given me for Christmas and finger combed my hair before I slipped on my black Toms and headed out the door with my purse. The school was only a ten minute walk from the house and the nice May weather seemed to be staying with us a bit longer. The unbearable heat that came with the summer would be coming soon, as well as the tourists that frequented the beach and hiking spots in the area.

The walk was uneventful. Most kids didn't want to be at school on a weekend unless it had to deal with sports and it was still too early for the lacrosse or baseball teams to be there. As I walked into the gym/auditorium it was clear that this was more for the parents than the kids. Adults had filled almost every seat with a few 17-year-olds who looked more than less excited to be awake this early.

Before I was even able to make my way to a chair, Liz pulled me by my arm and started dragging me to the stage door.

"I need your help," She whispered as she pushed me through the door.

"What for?"

"Undyne is super awesome but my arm can't take another punch before it breaks and she's so excited that I'm afraid she won't even realize that she has to go on stage in a few minutes."

"What am I supposed to do about it?"

She stopped at the top of the small steps that lead to backstage and turned to face me. "I…. Might have let slip that I knew you….." she shrugged sheepishly.

"What do I have to do with any of this Liz?" I crossed my arms at the bottom of the steps. I wasn't going to move until she explained.

"Ok…. So Undyne is apparently a big fan or your YouTube channel and she recognized me this morning…." She began using her hands while she talked. Shit…. "And I told her you were coming and now she is so excited…. And you just have to talk to her ok?"

Well shit…. I uncrossed my arms. I had a fan? And actual fan? And it was Undyne? Undyne the Undying?! The Captain of the Royal Guard that Asgore had been boasting about for the last two months?! Holy shit!

I took the stairs two at a time and damn near sprinted to the small "dressing room" closet the high school had on the side stage. I knocked on the door, almost vibrating with excitement. When the door opened (quite violently I might add) there was Undyne. Black wife beater, battered jeans, blue fish scales, smug expression, black eye patch and all! It was a split second of recognition for us both as she threw her arms around me and swung me into the room.

"Holy shit! It's really you! Keyleth! OH MY GOD!" She practically yelled as we swung around in circles.

Breathing in this bear trap she called a hug was impossible so I just wheezed laughter from my position pinned to her chest. It took a second for me to catch my breath when she finally set me down.

"Undyne….. The Undying….. I've heard….. so much….. About you!" I huffed.

"Really?!" The small lights in the room seemed to twinkle in her eyes as she grinned.

"Yeah!... I work with….. Asgore….. As his assistant…"

"No shit? Cool! Oh my god! Can we get a picture? My girlfriend will never believe this!" She said pulling out her phone.

"Sure!"

We posed next to each other (she had to lean down a bit) and she snapped the picture before sending it off.

"Well, Undyne, I would love to sit and talk more but my friend Liz says we gotta get this show on the road. Maybe we can hang afterward?"

"Hell yeah!" she pumped her fist into the air and made her way on stage.

Liz made the initial opening statements and opened the floor for Undyne. She didn't need a mic, and I could hear a very well-rehearsed speech about Monsters and humans from the back room. I flopped into an old folding chair and listened to the adults begin their questions. Well if nothing else, I could enjoy hanging out with a fan after this! An actual fan! Holy Crap!

[After the Assembly]

"You should totally come to my house, Keyleth. My girlfriend has to be your biggest fan and I would be the worst girlfriend in the world if I didn't at least try to convince you to meet her," laughed Undyne as we exited the Gym.

"Well…." I thought about it. What was I doing for the rest of the weekend? Nothing. What could it hurt? The little voice in the back of head said this was probably the craziest of ideas I had come up with but my heart was totally for it. "Yeah! Let's do it! I've never been to Above and it's only an hour away….. What the hell, why don't we make it a sleep over?" I smiled, turning to the fish woman.

You could've lit an entire skyscraper with the excitement coming off of Undyne.

"OH MY GOD! I'VE GOTTA CALL ALPHYS!" she ran off to her black SUV in the parking lot. "MEET ME BACK HERE IN 20!"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" whispered Liz from my left side.

"I felt it Liz… That pull in the middle of my chest… the minute she hugged me…." I placed my hand on my chest. I could feel my heart beat, just below my fingers.

"Ok. Well, I'll help you pack. You'll need your laptop too. I have a feeling you'll need to record EVERYTHING," she laughed as we began to pick up our pace.

Maybe it was the sun peeking out from behind the clouds but I could swear my chest was brighter beneath my hand.

[Sunday Morning at 7am]

I cracked open my eyelids and stared at the white ceiling of Undyne's house. I had fallen asleep on the couch after eight episodes of Soul Eater, about twenty rounds of Guitar Hero, and more spaghetti then was probably recommended for a human to consume. We had recorded almost every minute of it on my laptop and posted it immediately.

Alphys was the cutest, most nervous creature I had ever met. It had taken a full ten minutes of Undyne's coaching before she had even moved into the living room to hang out and after that she had peppered me with every question that she could come up with.

I could hear the couple getting ready for the day and I began my own stretching from the couch.

"G-g-g-g-good Morning!" Alphys called from the stairs.

"Morning!" I called sleepily from the corner of the couch. I cracked my back as she came down the stairs in a small blue dress and flip-flops.

"W-w-w-we were g-g-g-going t-t-t-to breakfast w-w-w-with a c-c-couple of c-c-c-close friends. W-w-w-would you l-l-l-like to c-c-c-come?" she stuttered from the bottom of the stairs.

"Sure! Why not?" I yawned. "I just need to change first…"

"Showers upstairs!" called Undyne from their room.

I grabbed my bag and moved around Alphys, frozen at the bottom of the stairs. She only came up to my chest but I couldn't help patting her on the head as I raced up the stairs. I swear she turned the brightest shade of red.

Liz had packed me a printed maxi skirt and a white shirt for the day. As I changed, I caught a glance at myself in the mirror. My blue eyes seemed lighter today. I was always intrigued about them whenever I looked in the mirror. Apparently I had had green eyes when I was born, (which had really thrown the doctors when my identity had been discovered) but I really liked the blue.

Ten minutes later and we were walking into the local hotspot, Grillby's. We seemed to be the first to arrive and worked on making a table for the rest of our group of eight near the bar. The manager seemed to know what was going on and began setting the table. At first I was sure that the monster made of fire would send it all up in flames but as we sat and he began filling glasses of water, I began to appreciate the silent man. Faster than I could track he started signing at Undyne.

"Just the usual group Grillby. Plus one of course!" Undyne gestured to me before punching me in the arm. "This punk is one of our favorite video makers on that website YouTube! I found her at Mt. Ebott High School and kidnapped her for the weekend!"

More signing from Grillby had her laughing out loud.

"I didn't really kidnap her! I promise!" She laughed.

As we waited for the others to arrive I began to fidget. Who all was coming? We're they all monsters? We're there any humans in this town? What the hell had I gotten myself into?

It didn't take long before another couple walked through the door. This time I recognized one of them.

"King Asgore?"

"… Lauren..." he murmured as he made his way to the table. An older goat-like lady trailed behind him, linked together with him by the hand. "Lauren! Good Morning! It's wonderful to see you!"

"Oh yeah! You guys work together!" Undyne laughed from her seat.

"How are you here in Above Lauren?" Asgore asked as he pulled out a chair opposite Undyne.

"I found a fan and we had a sleepover!" I laughed, rising from beside Alphys to shake his hand.

"Well, welcome! This is my wife, Toriel!" he gestured to the heavily pregnant goat woman lowering herself into her chair.

"Hello! It's very nice to meet you!" I waved.

"It's nice to meet you too! I've heard so much about you from Asgore and I was hoping we could meet!" Toriel laughed from her chair as Asgore sat at the head of the table. "I'm so glad he was able to get a decent assistant. The last one…. Well, let's just say I am VERY glad YOU are working with him."

I had heard of the guy I had replaced. He had had a thing for hiding paperwork and just making everything more difficult.

I smiled from my seat. This wasn't so bad after all… What had I been panicking about?

"~GOOD MORNING DAHLINGS~!" rang a metallic voice from the front door. We all turned to look at the robot (man….. I think?….) high-kicking through the doorway and a tall, lanky skeleton hooked on his arm. The transgendered robot seemed to dance his way to the table, the skeleton seemingly unfazed by his antics.

"Good morning Mettaton! Papyrus, how good to see you! Is your brother on his way?" answered Asgore from his chair.

"sup?" came a voice right behind me. I jumped out of my skin as I turned to look behind me.

Another skeleton, shorter than his brother by about a full head (but still taller than me), stood behind me. He had on a light blue hoodie, unzipped to reveal a white band tee, dark ripped jeans and a pair of beat up sneakers. He was smiling but I could feel him staring into my soul with the white pinpricks in his eye sockets.

"Sans! Don't scare the human like that!" yelled Undyne. "Alphys and I brought her along and she's Asgore's assistant," she explained to the curious faces of the newest arrivals.

"Well, now that we're all here, shall we eat?" asked Asgore as Mettaton, Papyrus, and Sans took their seats.

"YES PLEASE! I CANNOT WAIT FOR GRILLBY'S BREAKFAST SAPGHETTI!" exclaimed Papyrus.

Breakfast spaghetti? What the hell is breakfast spaghetti?

Sans must've seen the confused look cross my face from his seat next to me at the opposite end of the table.

"it's just spaghetti covered in syrup" he mumbled to me as he slumped in his chair.

"I get that but why?" I whispered.

Sans laughed. This apparently seemed to surprise everyone at the table as they stopped everything and stared at the two of us. I blushed under all the eyes as Sans seemed to regain his composure.

"that was good kid. i haven't laughed like that in a while," he chuckled. The rest of the table seemed to go back to their normal discussions albeit a little quieter so they could listen in. "so undyne kidnapped you did she? why?" Again I could feel him staring into my very being.

"Apparently my YouTube channel is a favorite for her and Alphys," I shrugged as I kept my eyes down on my empty plate.

"wait… you're keyleth?" he sat up a leaned his elbows on the table.

I nodded, still not looking up from my staring contest with the china.

"it's a personal favorite of mine too" he chuckled. At this I sat up a little more and turned my head to him. He liked it too? Why?

"i get that look on your face kid. yeah. i like it too. mostly that one where you were lip-syncing with a giant bruise on your head." He placed his skull in his right hand and closed his right eye.

"Oh…. Yeah…." I laughed. "I had just gotten out of the hospital from a car accident and I had needed a bit of a pick-me-up." I smiled. He seemed more relaxed now.

All of our discussions were interrupted a bit with ordering breakfast. I had picked a Belgian waffle, which seemed to impress Sans. After Papyrus ordered his 'breakfast spaghetti', I turned to Sans.

"Is it any good?" I whispered behind my hand.

Sans seemed to think about it for a minute.

"sure. if you like that kind of thing," he shrugged.

I couldn't help but think he hadn't wanted to say anything about it that close to his brother.

[After the Food Arrived]

'She is talking to everyone at the table and it seemed so normal to have her here', Sans thought. He had been watching her interact with everyone, from passing butter to flattering Mettaton for his most recent screen work.

Now she was finally turning her attention to her waffle. He had been surprised at her choice. Most people didn't like them because it just eventually became a syrup transport device. He watched as she cut a small corner of the waffle to taste the pastry. She seemed to like it and grabbed for the bottle of syrup that Grillbz had placed by the both of them. He watched as she drowned the plate in the sticky sweetness and took another bite.

The moan that came out of her closed mouth made him blush all shades of blue.

"WE SHOULD'VE WARNED YOU THAT GRILLBY IS KNOWN FOR HIS HOMEMADE SYRUP!" laughed Papyrus in between bites of his spaghetti. Grillbz had finally broken down and offered the dish for breakfast a few years ago but it seemed only Pap ever ate it.

He watched as the human realized what she had done and turned beet red. What had Gore said her name was?

"Maybe YOU will be able to convince Grillby to bottle it for sale, Lauren! I've been trying for years to get him to sell me some so I can bake it into some of my pies!" said Toriel, her fork pointed at the bar with a piece of her quiche on the end.

Lauren. That was the human's actual name but she seemed to flinch every time someone said it out loud.

"I don't know about that Mrs. Toriel," she blushed. "I would rather make everyone else come here to try it…"

"~Do you like sweets dahling?~" crooned Mettaton.

Lauren nodded as she began to eat the waffle, seeming to enjoy each bite.

"~Well, then we will have to have a girls day and go to Muffet's!~" Mettaton clapped from beside him.

"Oh I would love to Mettaton, but I have to go back home today. My sister is probably worried sick about me by now…" Lauren sighed.

"Sister? I thought you didn't have any family?" questioned Asgore.

"Well, she's my best friend, roommate and the closest thing I've ever had to a sister, so we just call each other sisters," she explained.

"No family?" Toriel asked.

"Oh… it's…. um…" Lauren stammered.

"Kid woke up at age 9 with nothing. No memories, no family, not a damn thing. Pretty strong right?" munched Undyne. She flashed a thumbs up at Lauren.

"That is awful!" exclaimed Toriel. "What happened?"

"Well, I was found on a road near the city. I had apparently been in the woods for a few days but I couldn't remember anything. The doctors at Mt. Ebott General Hospital had had my DNA on file and were able to determine that I had been missing after my parents had died in a car accident two years before. Other than a few bumps and bruises and a weird change in eye color, I was fine and they put me with Child Protective Services. I was never adopted but I had a nice foster family for a few years and I went to school like any other kid. I took classes in community college for Human Relations and got a Bachelor's Degree from MEU. I'd been working as a waitress and living with Liz until I landed my dream job," she stated bluntly.

Sans could see she was uncomfortable but none of them could tear their eyes from her face.

"wow… that's pretty heavy kid," he sighed.

"Eh…. It's nothing. I, at least, had motor and speech skills so they didn't have to start from scratch. I try not to think about it much and just go day by day," she smiled at him.

It was like she lit up the room with that small, sad smile and he could feel it in his soul. He could feel his face turning blue with his blush as everyone smiled back at her.

"Well! You are always welcome here with us Lauren!" smiled Toriel.

Now it was her turn to blush.

"Thank you Mrs. Toriel…."

[After the Meal]

Asgore had insisted on paying this time, to Sans displeasure. Sans thought he should be saving his money for the new baby but Gore wasn't one to shirk from his duties.

"We should do this again next weekend, Lauren!" said Undyne, her hand in Alphys' as they strolled to her big black SUV in the side lot.

"Wish I could Undyne, but I have a feeling that I'm gonna be too busy. Asgore has a dinner with a bunch of diplomats next weekend and I still have to arrange for transportation and everything…." Lauren sighed.

"I thought we had transportation to the even already handled Lauren…." murmured Asgore.

"Oh we do! It's my transportation here to meet you that is the problem! The car accident before we started working together killed my little car good," she chuckled. "And with our rent going up every month, even with my wonderful new salary, I haven't been able to save for a car again…."

Everyone had followed the girls out to the car and they all stood around the vehicle. Unwilling to leave Lauren just yet.

"well…. pap and metta were thinking about moving in together and that will leave me with two extra rooms soon…." Sans muttered.

"SANS! I…. I HADN'T TOLD YOU ABOUT THAT YET!" Papyrus blushed as Mettaton kissed his cheek.

"That's so wonderful you two!" clapped Toriel.

"ah… i head you two talking about it the other night. should've happened sooner…."Sans chuckled. He turned to the human. 'what the hell am i thinking?' "it's not much but we could work out some rent and then you wouldn't have to commute too much for things with gore…." He scratched the back of his head.

'she knows nothing about me and i know nothing about her but what i've looked up on the internet plus i've been watching her stupid videos like a religion…. but i can feel the pull of my soul. if i don't do this now…' he thought.

"I'd have to talk to Liz…." She blinked at the sudden offer. "I mean…. She was looking to transfer. You guys have a school here right?" She turned to Toriel.

"YES! I would LOVE to have another teacher with me! Especially with this little one on the way!" Toriel rubbed her belly affectionately.

"Wow…. OK!" Lauren finally turned to the car door. Before she stepped in she turned around. "Um Sans?"

"yeah?" he stopped in his tracks and turned toward the car.

"How…. Um…. How would I contact you?" she blushed, on hand on the door and one foot in the car as she turned to look at him.

Everyone has walked back towards Grillby's and Alphys and Undyne were already in the car, so it was just the two of them. Feet apart with nothing between them but the gravel of the parking lot. Even from here he could feel the pull of his soul, drawing him back to the car and damned if he didn't want to answer it.

But it scared him as well.

"undyne has my number" he said turning to follow his brother and his boyfriend.

As the car pulled out of the parking lot behind them, Sans felt his phone vibrate in his jeans.

/Hey Sans. This is my number. I'll call you soon?/

/sounds good kid/

He could feel his heartbeat pick up in his chest. Damn, he couldn't wait for that phone call. Maybe she would laugh? Time to brush up his material.


	3. When all the love songs make sense

For the LOVE

Chapter 3: When all the love songs seem to make sense

[The Next Saturday]

May had been running it's course pretty smoothly and we hadn't had any freak weather yet but I still held out hope. Tonight was the big Diplomatic dinner party and I had been working my ass off making sure that all our plans had been solidified. Asgore's suit had been picked up and delivered this morning and now I just had to get Liz to drive me to his humble abode with all of our paperwork and my dress. Asgore had made me take a lunch break that week to go shopping in the city with Mettaton for the perfect dress and I had to admit, the robot had a sense of style.

Liz whistled from my door frame as I finished zipping the dress into a garment bag.

"That kind of dinner, huh?" she leaned against my doorjamb as I rushed around packing all my accessories into a small duffel.

"Well, it will be mostly diplomats and their wives. Toriel can't handle being on her feet for too long so Asgore's plus one is supposed to be a guard. He figured if it was Undyne, one of us would have to look appealing so…." I grabbed a bag of makeup and shoved it into the tiny bag before throwing it over my head and grabbing the dress from the front of my closet door.

"Well, you shouldn't be late and I honestly want to meet this 'King' before I totally commit to moving. I mean Toriel sounds great over the phone but…." I could tell she was just nervous about meeting her potential boss before an actual interview when she started using air quotes.

"You'll love them, I promise!" I said as I followed her out the door to her car.

[The Dreemurr Residence]

Toriel answered the door, leaning backward when her belly seemed to get in the way.

"Hello Lauren! It's lovely to see you again!" her smiling face made me feel more comfortable every second I stood there. I didn't even question walking into her arms for a hug, letting all of my bags fall to the floor. I must have spooked her as it took her a second before she wrapped her arms around me.

"Sorry Mrs. Toriel…." I mumbled pulling out of the hug. "This is my best friend Liz," I gestured behind me.

Toriel smiled, wiping a small tear from the corner of her eye. "Hello Liz!"

"Hello Mrs. Toriel!" Liz bubbled.

As I collected my bags from the hall, we moved into a small sitting room I had seen from the front windows. Gauzy drapes covered the cathedral size windows, letting in the mid-day light to illuminate a few white couches and armchairs on a floral printed rug all facing a large TV hung on the wall. A small flower pot sat on a low cabinet below the TV and as we moved into the room, it seemed to turn towards us.

"Woah! What the…." Liz muttered as we rounded the corner.

"Oh don't mind him. That's Flowey. He's a rather nice flower…. When he wants to be…." said Toriel, the last bit feeling more like a threat to the flower.

We moved round the room, to a small hallway to the right of the couches, the flower's face flowing us with a shocked expression the entire time.

I could smell baked goods before we even entered the homey kitchen.

Asgore sat on a stool, leaning against the counter, careful to not hit his horns on the pot rack hanging over the island as he munched on a muffin and read the newspaper. I had expected the slumber pants, even this late in the afternoon but the Hawaiian shirt pulled around his muscular frame was a sight to see.

"Good Afternoon Asgore!" I giggled from behind Toriel as she returned to her baking and mixing.

"Hey! Lauren! Greetings!" He lifted his coffee in acknowledgement as he set down the paper. "Are you ready?"

"Not in the slightest but I'll manage. Is Undyne joining us soon?" I asked as Liz and I leaned against the counter. "Oh! King Asgore, this is my best friend slash sister Liz!" I bumped shoulders with Liz as she continued to gaze at the warm kitchen.

"Greeting Liz! And no, Undyne is apparently indisposed this evening so I asked another member to join us tonight, if that is alright?" he smiled a bit bashfully as he leaned on the counter.

"Sure! It was just a plus one without a name so…. Who is joining us?"

"yo," a voice said behind me causing me to jump.

This time I had the forethought to look at least a little peeved as I turned around.

"You have got to stop doing that!" I said as I looked up into his eye sockets.

He was smirking, I could tell.

"Sans! How many times have I told you to use the front door?" fumed Toriel turning from her mixing to scold him with a wooden spoon.

"sorry tori…" he scratched the back of his head, one arm still sling in the pocket of his blue hoodie. This close to him I could see the faintest of blue tint spread across his cheeks and nasal cavity.

"Sans. I hope you brought proper attire this evening?" Asgore stated glaring at the skeleton's attire.

"got it covered g-man," he unzipped his hoodie to show a black tee, printed to look like a suit.

I couldn't stop myself from laughing when Asgore slammed his open palm into his face and tried to wipe away his own annoyance from his face.

Before we knew it Liz and I were in a fit of giggles on the floor of the Dreemurr kitchen, fighting to catch our breath, with Sans standing to the side, beaming.

[Two hours till the Dinner]

"Ok…. Ok…." I gasped from the floor. "We need to get ready. Henry will be here any minute and I still have to do something with my hair," I wiped away a stray tear as I gathered my things from the floor of the kitchen.

"I'll help with your hair dear," said Toriel, placing her bowl down and washing her hands in the large farm sink under the window.

I followed Toriel back towards the sitting room and up a set of steps as Liz bid her goodbyes and headed back to our apartment to pack. Apparently we were going to move after all! WooHoo!

She led me to a small bedroom, and sat me before a vintage white vanity. I could tell the room had been set up with a young girl in mind but I hadn't seen or heard of a child. Toriel caught my bewildered expression as she began to comb my hair out of the quick bun I had thrown it in that morning.

"We had a child with us the Underground. I had this room made for them when we moved to Above but…." I could see Toriel's sad smile in the mirror.

"Oh that must have been terrible… I'm sorry Mrs. Toriel…" I murmured.

"Just call me Toriel," this time her smile was sweet.

"Sure thing…" I blushed as she began to tame my hair into a French twist.

It only took twenty minutes and an entire can of hairspray for her to complete the up do and I had to admit, it looked REALLY good. It only took a few more minutes and I was able to look at the full ensemble in the floor length mirror behind the door. For as much shit as I had given Mettaton about the dress, I looked damn good.

The sleeveless sweetheart neckline accentuated what little breasts I had, and flowed into a cinched waist that hung off my wide hips and the daring front slit showed just a hint of leg every time I moved. The fabric was a bright cyan that accented my eyes and my slightly perma-tanned skin to the point where I couldn't look in the mirror anymore. I turned to Toriel, standing behind me with glassy eyes full of unshed tears.

"How do I look?" I blushed.

"Breathtaking…" she sighed. "One last thing!" She turned toward the antique white dresser to a small jewelry box on the top. She carefully pulled a small silver chain out and began to place it around my neck. When she finished the clasp, I turned to inspect the jewelry. A small silver chain held a tiny shield medallion with symbols carved on its surface with a diamond inlaid in the center. On either side of the diamond, pressed into the metal, were tiny wings with three small diamond chips shaped like triangles below that.

"This is the symbol of the Monsters! It's beautiful Toriel! Are you sure you want me to have this?" I turned back toward her.

"I would be honored. Please," she smiled as she moved toward the door. "We need to head downstairs. The men are waiting!" She started back down the stairs as I followed.

[The Drive]

Sans waited in the living room, trying to squash the burning feeling to end the stupid yellow flower. It had done nothing but shoot him dirty looks when he had entered the room, following a quick wardrobe change in the hall bathroom. He had changed into a black tux and it had taken him a few minutes to remember how to tie the bowtie. Soon he had other worries; the women were coming back downstairs. He stood up from the couch and turned as Lauren descended the stairs behind Tori.

Immediately he could feel his soul burning in his chest. She was beautiful; her long brown hair had been pulled back and secured behind her head with small curled wisps in front of her ears. Her makeup was light, accenting her cheekbones and bringing out those blue eyes he had been dreaming about since their breakfast last week. She was small but he could see every bit of her where the dress hugged her curves. With the heels she was able to look him directly in the eye sockets and he couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not. He whistled under his breath when he finally caught it. Even Asgore had to pause as he came out of the bathroom in his own penguin suit.

"Lauren, you look amazing!" he breathed.

"Thank you. Actually, you'll have to thank Mettaton, he convinced me to get this one," she twirled as she came down the stairs. As she turned, Sans saw a small tattoo of a yellow flower on the back of her neck. At the foot of the stairs pulled a small silver clutch open to check her phone. "Well, our ride is here!" she sang.

"One second! I want a picture!" called Toriel. Sans stood next to Lauren's left by the door, even with the camera snapping, he couldn't help but look at her out of the corner of his eye. The tattoo was the size of a half-dollar coin and bore an uncanny resemblance to a certain murderous flower he knew.

"We will be home soon dear!" Asgore kissed his wife as the group walked out the door to the waiting limo.

"Be safe!" she called.

In the limo, Sans had Asgore get in first, followed by the human, and lastly himself. Part of him wanted to blame it on safety protocols but he had wanted to watch her behind as she climbed into the vehicle. The ride seemed smooth enough but Sans kept an eye on the road as he leaned on the door.

"I hope we aren't keeping you from someone tonight Lauren," Asgore said as he lounged in the middle of the Limo.

"Oh? Oh, no. I'm single," Lauren blushed as she tapped a few keys on her phone.

"your choice?" Sans couldn't help it. He was curious.

"Kind of? I tried the whole dating thing a few years ago and found a bad egg so I've just been… working on myself," she shrugged.

"bad egg?"

"I had been with this guy for a few years, we had even been engaged but even if it wasn't physical, it was still abuse. He had a way or making you feel like absolute dirt, unworthy of licking his boot heel. I broke it off with him soon after the engagement," she sank into the leather bench in the corner. "What about you Sans? Are we keeping you from someone tonight?"

"heh, if you can call a bottle of heinz and comedy shows a date then sure," sans mumbled.

"Ketchup?" she looked to Asgore for explanation.

"Humans would equate it to beer. The thicker and sweeter the liquid, the harder it is for some of us," Asgore explained.

"What kind of comedy shows?" she asked.

Sans had been too busy watching the fabric slip off her left leg when she asked and it took a minute for him to regain the conversation.

"mostly old stand-up stuff… personal favorite is 'whose line is it anyway?'. the old stuff, the newer is kind of crap," he joked.

"I think my favorite is Robin Williams' stand up. It's kinda old but it always makes me laugh," she giggled.

'good god, if you keep that up i might not get through the damn dinner' he thought.

"never seen it…"he said.

"Oh my god. We will HAVE to watch that one night after Liz and I have moved in. T-that's still available right?" she blushed.

'hell fucking yes'

"yeah. my brother moved out the other day so i just have to clean up a few things and everything should be ready," he made a mental note to clean the whole damn house before they moved in. It wouldn't help his chances if she knew he was a lazy slob. While it had been pretty lonely without Pap the last few nights but he knew that Metta was taking good care of his brother and he kind of looked forward to having the women move in.

With a happy smile she seemed to sink into the bench as Asgore hummed an old forgotten tune and the ride went on.

[The Dinner]

The food had been excellent and after a glass of wine, I felt like I was prepared to rub elbows with some of these people. Classical music floated from the live string band in the corner of the ballroom and slowly people were taking to the dance floor in the front of the room. Asgore had suggested I walk to the floor and see who might have been interested in dancing. He figured they couldn't resist the lure of dancing with his secretary if she was human.

After three dances with a Russian diplomat, I made my way back to our table. The entire time I had felt eyes on me and it had been really hard not to excuse myself earlier. Sans lounged in his chair, seemingly uninterested in the party but turned when I finally sat down again.

"how's the crowd kid?" he asked leaning close enough I could hear him over the music. This close I could smell the cologne he must have put on while I had been upstairs.

"No more blood thirsty than usual and it seems like this had been the best thing we could do under the current circumstances. Everyone wants to make deals and meetings, when earlier this week I couldn't even get their secretaries to answer the damn phone," I leaned back onto the chair and stretched. I debated taking off my shoes, knowing that I had stored flats in my bag when Asgore came back to the table and stood between us.

"You two should go dance together. Put on a show for them…" he gestured low towards the dance floor and placed a hand on Sans' shoulder. I could see the silent debate going on between the two men when Sans picked up his head and met Asgore's eyes.

"….alright…" Sans sighed and stood, holding his hand out to me.

Unsure, I placed my hand in his bony one. He could dance?

The music slowed to a waltz as we took the floor. The entire room seemed to be holding it's breath, including myself as we began to move to the music. Soon we were swaying and twirling with the rest of the dancers, the pain in my feet forgotten. When I was unsure, he guided me. When I seemed to falter, he caught me. I began to feel that warm glow in my chest that I knew meant everything would be alright. As soon as I caught his half-lidded gaze the feeling doubled. As the number came to a close, he dipped me so close to the floor I could swear I was upside down. He winked as he helped me back up to the thunderous applause of the other guests. We bowed and made our way back to our table, laughing the entire way.

The evening began to wind down, the guests filing out the door, shaking hands with the host. As we neared the door ourselves, Sans motioned for us to wait inside while he checked the exterior of the building. It wasn't a very long walk but he wasn't taking any chances.

He motioned for us to get in the car, standing by the open limo door as it idled. Asgore and I ducked into the waiting vehicle and slid into our seats as the first bit of rain began to fall. So much for the nice weather…

[The Ride Home]

The minute the car had started moving, she had fallen asleep leaning on the other window. Sans noted she had even kicked off her shoes but hadn't gotten far enough to put the small flats on that she had pulled out of her purse. He figured it couldn't hurt to help her.

He kneeled down in the limo, taking the flats from her sleepy grip, slowly placing them on each of her feet. As he slipped on the small shoes he glanced at her leg, catching the sight of another tattoo on her right leg. A small compass with the words 'Follow your heart" below it seemed so simple but a powerful reminder. Careful to not wake her, he moved back to his seat next to the door.

"What do you think?" Asgore said in a low voice.

"what do you mean?" Sans questioned him.

"Don't play dumb Sans. I know better than that," Asgore sat forward placing his elbows in his knees. "I saw it when you danced. Did you see a symbol?"

Sans sighed. He knew all of his friends had put their love life's on hold after his episode. "yeah. i saw it. it's right under her left collarbone," if he was daring enough he would touch the invisible symbol and make it flare to life but he didn't dare touch her. She seemed to need the sleep after all the work she had done dancing.

The rolling of the privacy wall disrupted anything else Asgore would have said.

"Gentlemen, there seems to be some type of issue up ahead. I see a police barricade. Would you like me to turn around?" came the voice of the driver from the front.

'shit…'

"yeah henry. turn around if you can. we'll come in the back way," Sans moved toward the screen and looked out the front windshield.

As Henry began to turn the wheel the windshield cracked and a bullet embedded itself in his chest. He slumped forward, pushing his weight on the gas pedal and throwing the car into a haphazard turn into the ditch along the roadside.

Sans wasn't fast enough to change the course of the car as it careened off the road.

"hold on!" he yelled behind him.

The car seemed to flip with its momentum into the ditch and for a few seconds everything went black.

He awoke rather violently, rain hitting his face and running into his eye sockets. He was lying on the asphalt facing the turbulent sky, as he took stock of his body. Nothing seemed to feel broken as he began to sit up, but soon two small hands pushed him back to the ground.

"Hold-hold still Sans… I think I'm almost finished healing your leg," He could hear Lauren's voice from the direction he assumed was his feet. Warmth wrapped around his left leg and he could feel the sudden burning of healing magic in the offending appendage. Soon the soft green light died down and he sat up to look at her.

Most of her hair had fallen out of it's cage, sticking to her face as it got wet. She was kneeling on his left side, panic evident in her eyes as the storm picked up in intensity.

"how did you…?" he mumbled in his confused state.

She shook her head, more of her hair falling out of the twist.

"I have NO idea. I just knew it would work," she practically yelled over the rain. "I woke up and the limo was upside down. I pulled you both out of the wreck on to the road. The cops saw the whole thing. They shot the guy. He had been sitting on top of his car all night so they had made a blockade but they hadn't seen the gun. They called an ambulance and another car. I tried to pull Henry out but…." Her voice broke. "He was already gone…. Asgore just seems to be unconscious but I have no idea." Sans could see the tears rolling down her face, combining with the rain.

He pushed himself to his feet as best he could, testing his left leg as he did so.

'still sore but in one piece…' the magic thing he would deal with later.

Kneeling next to his friend he checked his breathing, finding it regular and steady. Using his left eye he lit Asgore's body in a faint blue glow as he checked for injuries.

'nothing…. thank god….'

Turning to Lauren he inspected her for any injuries he could see. A slice on her left arm was bleeding pretty badly but she would live. Still, he pulled her down to him and he wrapped her in a hug, feeling her shaking with every breath. She seemed to collapse on him as she shook and Sans realized that she must be soaking wet and cold in that dress. He quickly stripped off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders, being careful of the wound on her left arm. He pulled her into his lap as he angled them better to watch Asgore and wrapped his left hand around her wound under the jacket. He wasn't as good as his brother but he used his healing magic the best he could as he kept his glowing eye on the surroundings. As they waited for the police to come back he swore her could hear her muttering about never getting in a car again.

The police were able to give them all a lift back to the Dreemurr residence once Asgore had regained consciousness. Lauren had waved off the ambulance, promising to get fully checked by a doctor in the next few days. A young officer named Fritz had made sure they had filled out paperwork on the incident before he left in the wee hours of the morning to inform Henry's family of his death.

Once they were in clean, dry clothes, Toriel hugged them all and cried until she passed out. Asgore took his wife upstairs soon after and Sans was left alone with Lauren in the living room. Flowey had kept his mouth shut but the look he had been giving Lauren the entire time they sat there sent shivers up Sans' vertebrae.

"i can take you back to your place or something," he mumbled from his spot on the couch.

"What? No… I…. Liz is out and I don't want….." she broke out of her thousand-yard stare with the windows and looked at him. "I CAN'T be alone right now…." Toriel had found an old sweater for her and a pair of sweatpants three sizes too big but she still looked radiant. The only problem was her eyes were as big as saucers as she hugged her gym bag to her chest and he could tell she was fighting sleep.

"well… the house isn't clean but fuck it…" he stood and offered her his hand. "i've got plenty of room or a couch to sleep on till the morning…"

"Thank you…" she whispered. Her hand slipped into his as she stood from the armchair. He could feel his magic jump out and touch her in comfort as their hands connected. "But I didn't see a car outside so how are we going to get there in this weather? And to be honest, I'm not sure I could take more driving…"

"oh, I know a shortcut…" he opened the front door and opened a shortcut to his living room in the doorframe, pulling her inside before she could protest.

[Sans' House]

The interior was dark when we stopped moving. I had felt the crackle of electricity when we had walked through the doorway of the house but I had never imagined he could teleport. It kind of explained his knack at appearing behind me. Sans dragged me across the room to a wall and I could hear an audible switch as the room lit up. It was a small two story house; the majority of the room we were in was taken up by a large green couch, bean bag, and a TV on the opposite wall above a small table. I could see a small galley kitchen off to the right with a small hallway leading straight ahead to a back door and a set of stairs on the left side of the room.

"not much to look at but it's home," Sans said as he let go of my hand and made his way to the kitchen.

As he rustled around in the fridge I sat myself on the couch. I was still wearing a large knit sweater Toriel had given me and a pair of sweats but I kicked off my small flats as I walked to the couch. I dropped my small duffel on the floor in front of me as I sagged into the overstuffed monstrosity.

Sans returned with a bottle of ketchup, two hot dogs, and a bottle of water, tossing the later at me as he moved to the opposite end of the couch and turned on the TV. He popped the top of the bottle of ketchup as a few reruns of 'Whose Line' played softly in the background. I chugged the bottle of water, not realizing how thirsty I had been.

"better?' he asked from his end if the couch.

"Uh-huh," I nodded.

After a few minutes I couldn't take it anymore.

"What the hell happened?" I turned to the skeleton pulling my feet up and laid them in the middle cushion between us.

"some wack-job, who doesn't like monsters, tried to take us out…" He shrugged from his side of the couch. He finished his bottle of ketchup and placed it on the floor as he stretched out to mirror me.

I could feel his bones through the track pants he had on and even the huge socks he had on showed the individual phalanges of his toes.

"Not that….. That I weirdly understand. I meant afterwards," I slumped down farther in the couch. "How did I heal you? I did heal you right? I mean…. It was so weird…."

"i got nothing for ya there kid…" He smirked and shrugged.

I could tell he knew more than he was telling me as the lights in his eye sockets dimmed to nothing but honestly, the couch had begun to eat me and poor sleep, dancing, and the adrenaline rush of the crash was finally starting to catch up with me.

"we'll talk more in the morning…." He flipped off the TV as my eyes slid closed. I could swear he even turned off the lights but I never felt him leave the couch.


	4. When it speaks, you listen

For the LOVE

Chapter 4: When it speaks, you listen

[3am]

Sans had watched her fall asleep on the other side of the couch. Her breathing had evened out, and he released the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. The house was as dark as it could get with the storm still raging outside so he brought his hands to his chest and slowly pulled forward his soul and held it lightly in the palm of his left hand. He took a quick glance at her sleeping form in the dim blue glow of his soul and with a flick of his wrist he was able to see the small "heartstrings" connecting him to his family and friends. They came like thick wires from the center of the heart shaped glow, each with their own tint, and he slowly inspected each one. He grabbed a thick orange sting with his right thumb and forefinger, giving it a little tug to let his brother know he was ok. Twisting his wrist he ran his fingers through them, never touching them, stopping when he came to a thin black one and a gold one. He knew without touching that the black one was for his father, long lost to the void and insanity. The gold one though….

He tilted his wrist towards Lauren and watched as it grew to attach to her chest. It was still very thin and fragile but he knew the rumors of gold heartstrings.

With another flick of his wrist, his soul disappeared back into his chest cavity and hopped over the back of the couch. He should try to sleep in his bed, the gang would want him at brunch the next morning, but with her on the couch he knew that was impossible.

He walked around the front of the couch, the constant lightning making it easy to maneuver, and knelt down by her head. Her features had tightened, and there was an almost constant twitching in her neck as if she was fighting in her dream.

'even if she doesn't remember anything, it's still there in the dark parts of her mind…' he thought as he laid his left hand on her cheek.

"Sans…." She whispered from her slumber.

He wanted to let her know he was there, that he was with her, that he would always be with her now but the name… the name she was going by was the wrong one. He had seen her flinch every time someone had called her by it. He had seen heard Liz call her 'Sis' when she left, and how even during the dinner she had been called 'Miss' instead of her name.

He didn't dare give his hope breath; instead he leaned his forehead to her temple and closed his eyes as if he was praying.

[Dream World]

I never could see anything in the nightmares, but all my other senses seemed to make up for that. The taste of chalk dust on my tongue, the blossoming pain from wounds I could not see, the sounds of screams in my ears, and the breaking of my own heart each time I heard them. No matter how I fell asleep, added by sleeping pills or alcohol, it was always the same unless I had turned on my music before I fell asleep.

Even in my sleep I could feel someone touch me.

'Sans…' I thought.

With that I felt the dream shift. No longer was I surrounded in darkness but I could see and what I saw made my heart quicken for a different reason.

Above me, suspended in the nothingness was Sans. Slowly, I watched, he opened his eyes and felt around in the darkness. We were a little more than an arm's length apart but when Sans caught sight of me he stretched his hand out toward me. It took all of my power to reach for him, like I was fighting time itself, but when I finally took his hand we held fast and he seemed to pull me toward him. I noticed he still has his white undershirt on but his black track pants had been exchanged for a pair of white linen pants and he was without his hoodie or socks. As I farther in and he wrapped his hands around my back, I stole a glance at myself and saw a gauzy white dress floating in the nothing.

It was as if we were floating in the deepest depths of the oceans. There were no sounds, no light but we could see each other just fine. We didn't speak, just held on to each other, floating, until the warmth spread from under my breastbone to the top of my chest.

Sans' chest was lit in blue as I pulled from the hug to look at his face. We kept our hands anchored to the other's hips and pressed our foreheads together as we drifted.

Suddenly gravity seemed to turn back on and when I blinked we were in a small bedroom. The walls were white and bare of any decorations but as I turned my head I could see a desk covered in paperwork and books and a pile of clothes in the corner of the room. I could feel a mattress under my body and when I looked back at Sans, his brow bone was furrowed in confusion.

Without the pressure of the darkness against me, I easily placed my hands on his cheeks.

"Hello," I murmured.

"hi…" he blushed. He was laying on top of me, his knees on the top of the dress as he tried to keep his weight between them and his hands on either side of my hips. Slowly I pulled his head towards me forcing him to lay fully on me as I kissed the tip of his nasal cavity.

If this was my dream, the first I had had in memory, I would get what I wanted most.

I pulled him farther above me, forcing his hands on either side of my chest and leaned up to kiss his teeth. I could feel the sparks of his magic jump to my lips as I angled his head to my right and wrapped my hands around his shoulders, kissing him the entire time.

With every kiss the sparks jumped to me and he seemed to relax until he wrapped his hands beneath my shoulders, his weight on his forearms and down my body.

I could feel him pushing back with the kiss and feeling bold, I opened my mouth on the next one. He felt the shift and I could feel his tongue graze the tip of mine. I hadn't expected the rush of magic so when I opened my eyes and saw his blue tongue peeking out from below a rather sharp looking canine, I blushed.

Before he could say anything I pulled him back down to me and opened my mouth again.

This time, he pulled away first.

"what the hell is that?" he said, rubbing his tongue over his teeth.

I stuck my tongue out at him, just the tip to tease, but he quickly caught it and forced me to open my mouth. He blushed as he released my tongue, blinking rapidly in bewilderment.

"You've never kissed anyone with a tongue ring before?" I teased.

"no… does it hurt?" he asked, concerned.

I smiled softly. "At first it did, but now I'm so used to it. Plus it has other uses when you're in a bedroom…" I caught the ball of the barbell in my teeth before pulling it back in with my tongue.

It was like lighting a fire with gasoline. His face changed in one heart beat from concerned to hungry. His eyes became half lidded and he began to spread his knees, forcing my thighs to the top of his own, dragging the dress upward.

He was back on my mouth in an instant; the tease had set him off exactly as I had planned.

I had kept my eyes closed as we kissed but I could feel him moving above me. His hands were grazing my knees dragging my dress up my thighs, stopping only when he reached the end of my panties. He moved closer as he placed his left hand back under my shoulder but his right took a detour to roll my left nipple between his bony digits.

I moaned into our kiss as he squeezed my breast under the fabric and I began to feel him stiffen between my legs.

"Sans…" I moaned. I broke the kiss to breathe but his hand started to trail down my side and I could see him smirking with his one eye glowing.

Quickly he sat back on his shins and rescued me from the shrinking dress. I was panting when I finally lay back on the bed, bare except for a pair of black lacy panties. When I sat up to look at Sans, it wasn't the underwear he was focused on, but my left hip.

He was tracing the lines of the skull and crossbones that I had gotten inked into me almost four years ago. I realized, with a bit of embarrassment, that I had also made the artist tattoo a fiery, blue left eye.

He looked at me with said eyes as he covered the art with his right palm and squeezed.

I smiled at him again. The frantic, hungry fire seemed to have been extinguished from both of us, replaced by a warm burning in our chests as we locked eyes.

He leaned back to me and placed his forehead on mine as his right hand continued to squeeze and rub my hip.

I brought my hands up as I laid back down and dragged the hem of his shirt up until I hit his bottom most ribs. This time he groaned and hung his head on my shoulder as I followed every vertebra to the back of his neck. I could feel him shudder as the heat of me pushed against his member trapped in his pants.

I was feeling daring again so I rocked my hips into his, causing us both to gasp.

He pulled away for a second, ripping off his shirt and tossing it toward the pile in the corner. He didn't come back right away, instead he leaned over my hips and stripped me of the last clothing barrier I had. I preferred to keep a small strip of hair between my legs and as he leaned over me I could feel him lightly caress the patch before teasing his fingers around my entrance.

I figured two could play that game and I grabbed his hips and pushed my fingers into his waistband, wrapping one hand around his rod.

I f his eye could roll back in his head it would have. He pulled his pants the rest of the way off and sat on his shin bones with his jaw hanging open and his head back.

There was a drop of moisture on the tip and I bent forward to lick it off.

His taste was heady and soon I replaced my hand with my mouth, putting my aforementioned tongue ring to work, swirling beneath the head and stretching my tongue down to his base.

I could feel Sans thread his fingers into my hair as I continued my ministrations. He began to pant after a few minutes and a blue flush had spread across his face.

Very carefully he removed me from his penis, laying me back down below him. I could feel his tip nudging me as he pleaded with his eye.

I nodded softly as he slowly pushed his way inside. I could feel myself stretch to receive him as he slowly thrusted, inch by inch until he was fully seated inside.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, staring into each other's eyes, silent questions and silent answers being exchanged.

I was the first to break, arching my back, forcing him against my clit. My breasts pressed against his ribcage a light friction sending shivers down my spine. I placed my arms under his to grab his shoulder blades as I laid back down.

He took the hint and began rocking, forward and back, our foreheads pressed together as a coiling began deep in my belly. I met him thrust for thrust, the coiling turning into a burn that seemed to spread to my entire body.

He pulled my head closer to his, opening me for a kiss as the first waves of pleasure crashed over me. Neither of us could stop our moans as we both found our release in the slow love-making.

I was still having aftershocks when I felt him pull back from inside me. We were both still panting and I could see that sweat had beaded on his skull when he moved to lay beside me.

I didn't want the dream to end but I could feel the exhaustion pulling me back to the darkness. I forced my eyes open one for time to see Sans with the most tender look on his face, his smile soft and his hand reaching for my face.

'Please…' I thought. 'Please…. Please…. Don't let me go….'

[7am]

Sans jolted awake from his position on the floor. He must have fallen asleep while he had been kneeling by Lauren's head and fallen over. Shaking his head as he sat up, he thought back to the awesome dream he had had.

'i wonder where i came up with the idea for that tattoo… or that piercing…' he thought as he stood up. He stole a glance at Lauren still asleep on the couch and blushed.

Checking the clock on the wall, he figured he still had a few minutes to catch a shower and change before Pap came to pick him up for brunch. Leaving her asleep on the couch he marched up the stairs and replayed the dream in his head.

[7:05 am]

"SANS! SAAAAANS!"

"SANS! WHY IS THERE A HUMAN ON THE COUCH? SANS!"

My eyes flew open at Papayrus' voice as it pulled me from sleep. Inches from my face was the taller skelton, head cocked, with his hands on his hips.

"::JESUS CHRIST ON A CRACKER::" I yelled as I pushed Papyrus' face out of mine and flung myself against the corner of the couch.

"what is it pap?" Sans yelled from the top of the stairs.

"WELL, I HAD COME TO GET YOU FOR OUR WEEKLY BRUNCH AND NOTICED A HUMAN ON YOUR COUCH. NOW I REALIZE IT IS 'THE' HUMAN FROM LAST WEEK! HUMAN! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULD SPEAK WINGDINGS, THOUGH I HAVE NEVER HEARD IT USED THAT WAY! THAT IS AMAZING!" Papayrus stood in front of the couch, his body angled toward me as he smiled.

Last time I had seen him he had been wearing a suit of armor on his chest with an orange scarf and some kind of blue speedo on his hips but today he had a white button-down shirt with black leather gloves on his hands, an orange tie, black suspenders attached to black dress slacks, and a pair of black dress shoes.

"SANS, YOU DIDN'T TELL ME THAT THE HUMAN KNEW WINGDINGS!" he turned towards his brother, hands still on his hips.

"well, she is a humdinger of a human pap," said Sans as he came down the stairs.

"SANS, YOU HAVEN'T SAID A PUN IN ALMOST TEN YEARS!" Papyrus beamed as he turned toward the stairs.

"well, I wasn't feeling very PUNny for a while…." Sans chuckled.

"You mean it's not just some language that I made up?" I raised an eyebrow at Sans as he came to the front of the couch to stand by his brother.

"NO HUMAN! IT IS A SPECIAL LANGUAGE THAT I THOUGHT ONLY SANS AND I KNEW. WELL, WE WILL HAVE TO DISCUSS THIS LATER. WILL YOU BE COMING WITH US TODAY HUMAN?" Papyrus held his hand out toward me.

"I would love brunch Papyrus, but is there a way I can grab a quick shower? I believe rats have decided to make my hair into a nest," I smiled up to him as I touched the top of my head.

"I BELIEVE YOU ARE CORRECT HUMAN AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL NOT BE KNOWN FOR KEEPING A LADY FROM HER BEST. METTATON WOULD NEVER FORGIVE ME!" He gestured up the stairs. "PLEASE, USE THE SHOWER AS I COLLECT METTATON FROM THE CAR!" He leaped toward the door, his scarf trailing behind him.

Sans chuckled at his brother's antics and sat back down on the couch.

"did you sleep ok?" sans asked.

I blushed as I remembered the great dream I had had. "Yeah. I actually slept. Well," I jumped up from the couch and collected my bag. "The shower awaits!" I ran up the stairs to the first door at the top of the stairs and closed the door behind me.

The shower was clean despite the overflowing hamper in the corner and I made use of all the utilities. There was a slight feel of heat to the shower. Sans must have taken one before me. At that thought, the image of Sans in the shower popped into my head and I shook it away. I didn't have time to day dream in the shower.

The water was hot, just like I liked it, and I was able to wash out all the knots and hairspray from my hair and scrubbed my face of the remainder of my makeup.

I hadn't grabbed a clean towel so I grabbed the one on the back door. The scent of Sans' cologne drifted into my nose as I dried off and I couldn't help but breathe in the intoxicating scent mixed with the steam form the shower. Flashes of the dream played behind my eyes as I tried to concentrate on dressing for the day.

I had assumed I would be home so I had only packed some underwear, a pair of black yoga pants and tank top, no bra. I dressed and fixed my hair, deciding to just brush it out and put on a black beaning I had packed at the bottom of the bag.

As I exited the bathroom I spotted Sans coming out of his room the next door down.

"You wouldn't happen to have a spare hoodie would you?" I asked as walked, barefoot to his door.

"s-sure…" he mumbled as he gestured me to follow him back into the room.

I walked into the room, an almost carbon copy of my dream room.

It took a second for me to realize he had suggested I sit on the bed as he looked in his closet. I sat on the full-sized bed, devoid of sheets and tried to slow my breathing. It wouldn't do to have a panic attack in his bedroom and try to explain myself.

He came back from the closet, a carbon copy of his own hoodie in black in his hand.

"here. pap had gotten me this a couple of years ago to try and update my wardrobe... i've never worn it," he held the jacket out as he blushed and kept his head down.

As I took the hoodie, my hand brushed his and I could feel his magic jump to my fingers. I know it had been a dream but as I put the hoodie on, I made a decision.

"Thank you," I said as I stood and kissed him on the cheek.

The blush covered his entire face and the lights went out in his eyes as I left the room.

No matter what happened for the rest of the day, I was on cloud nine.

[At Grillby's]

Sans still hadn't caught his breath as they sat together at the table. She had come out of the bathroom and he had been able to see her breasts swinging freely in the black tank top that had hugged her upper body. Taking her into his room had probably been a bad idea as she had stood in shock of the mess but he hadn't wanted her to be downstairs with Metta. He would never have heard the end of it.

When they had come downstairs, Mettaton had gotten on her about her 'hobo attire' but Lauren had brushed him off.

"I'm comfortable and after the night we had, I want comfy." She had slipped on her little flats and walked right out the door. When she had realized they were going to get in a car she had stalled but he had been able to step in and suggest they would meet the couple at Grillby's. Mettaton had said it was their loss and they had driven off.

He had opened a quick dimension door to the restaurant's back door and she had willingly taken his hand as they walked through. When she had hugged him for understanding, he had felt those breasts against his chest, and the dream came back to his mind.

If she continued touching him, he would have a fucking heart attack or overload on magic. He didn't know which was worse.

Asgore and Toriel were the last to arrive this time, both looking a little worse for wear. It wasn't until Asgore sat in his chair and the sound of a deflating whoopee cushion, that he broke out of his spiral. The entire restaurant had gone quiet as Asgore pulled the cushion out from under him, holding it next to his head and looking questioning at Sans.

"you look a little DEFLATED there, your majesty…" he said leaning forward and placing his skull on his palm.

With that, the entire restaurant burst into laughter. He could even swear he heard Grillby chuckle from behind the bar.

"THAT'S THE SECOND JOKE YOU'VE MADE TODAY SANS!" Papyrus laughed as he wiped tears from his eyes. "I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT BUT I AM GLAD YOU ARE BACK TO YOUR OLD SELF! I LIKE TO THINK IT WAS BECAUSE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HELPED BUT I WONDER… WAS IT YOU HUMAN?" He turned toward Lauren who had been hiding her smile behind her hands.

"It wasn't me!" she giggled.

'oh, you keep thinking that…' Sans thought.

"What did happen last night Asgore?" Undyne piped up from beside the king.

The king sighed and placed a hand on his wife's.

"the dinner went well enough…" Sans said.

"Yes, Lauren was able to make some connections and solidified some of our relations overseas. Her and Sans even danced for the attendees," Asgore gestured at the our end of the table.

"YOU CAN DANCE BRO?" Papyrus swung his head to look at his brother.

"i've been known to shake a LEG or two before pap," He smiled as he rattled his legs under the table.

"OH! YOU!" Papyrus laughed.

"W-wait! You didn't happen to see what happened on the main road, d-did you?" Alphys asked.

"~What happened on the main road last night?~" Mettaton inquired.

"Oh! T-There was a big accident! The human news was talking all about it! Some man had made a limo flip over," Alphys looked at the robot raptly.

Undyne spit the water she had been drinking into the air and looked at Alphys.

"A LIMO?! Wait! Was that YOUR LIMO?!" Undyne's head swiveled to look at the king as he nodded.

"Yes…" He squeezed Toriel's hand and looked at Undyne's shocked face. "Our driver's life was taken by a man with a rifle. The police believe he had been waiting for us and wanted to attack when we drove by but they had set up a barricade forcing us to attempt to turn around. As Henry had been turning, the coward shot him," Asgore seemed angrier with every word but he took a breath to calm himself. "Lauren was able to pull me out of the wreck before any of it could catch fire and we all walked away unscathed."

Sans shot Lauren a look and shook his head when it looked like she would speak. They would talk about his leg and the healing later, along with everything else he had started to discover about the young woman.

"Next time, I come with you…" Undyne growled.

"Understood," Asgore said and the rest of the group seemed to sit back in their chairs.

"Well, I am glad you are all ok, and now, I believe it is time for us to order!" Toriel announced.

As Grillby came by to take their orders, Sans glanced at Lauren. She ordered her waffle and a hot tea and glanced at her phone.

"Gotta take this, I'll be right back," as she stood and walked out the back door.

[Outside Grillby's]

"Hey Liz! What's up?" I said as I closed the door behind me.

"Hey, where are you?" I could hear the distress in Liz's voice and the sound of her car in the background.

"I'm at Grillby's with some friends. What's wrong?" I asked worried.

"I'll be there in a minute. Meet me outside?" She sighed in relief.

"Already out here. I'll see you when you pull in," I hung up and waited for her red Jeep to pull into the parking lot.

She pulled in not a minute later and hopped out of the car, trudging over to me.

"What happened?" I sighed as I pulled her in for a hug.

"It was horrible!" she cried into my shoulder. "He took me to this crappy bar and hit on another girl all night! I actually went home afterwards and just watched some Sherlock to feel better but I don't!"

Liz had been looking for love for the last few years. She had tried online dating but every time she seemed to find a decent guy, he turned out to be a huge creep or douchebag.

"Well, I know just the cure for a wounded heart. Come inside and share my waffle with me," I guided her through the back door by her shoulders.

"Can I have French toast?" she mumbled wiping her eyes on the sleeves of her cardigan.

"I'll tell Grillby to get you some French toast…" I smiled.

I led her towards the table, her head on my shoulder the whole time.

"Hey everyone, we have an extra for brunch this morning. Can we drag another chair over?" I announced. Papyrus jumped from his seat and placed another chair next to mine, in between Sans and I. Liz sat in my chair, favoring Alphys instead. I sat back down as Grillby came by with a mug full of tea.

"Grillby could we get an order of French toast for my friend?" I patted Liz on head as she leaned on my left shoulder.

He bowed low before heading back towards the bar.

"~Oh dear! What happened?~" Mettaton cooed.

"Boy troubles…" I muttered.

"~Well, I would let you borrow mine but I'm afraid I like him too much to share!~" Mettaton giggled.

Liz laughed as Grillby placed a fresh glass of water in front of her.

"Thank you!" she smiled at him.

Grillby seemed to burn blue in the face for a second and bowed before leaving us again.

"I d-don't think I've ever seen Grillby blush before Liz!" Alphys giggled from behind her hands. "It was SO CUTE!"

"Really? Hey, wait… How did you know my name?" Liz asked.

"Oh! Well… Um… I've seen all of Lauren's videos on YouTube and I know you're her best friend, sister, thing and um…." Alphys blushed.

"OH! You must be Undyne's girlfriend! It's nice to meet you!" Liz smiled.

Introductions were made for the rest of the group and I settled in my chair. It felt like all the pieces of my life had finally begun to fit together. I stole a glance at Sans as he cracked a joke.

We would talk later. Right now, I was just going to enjoy the feeling of finally being home.


	5. Believe in the light

OH MY GOD GUYS! I JUST HAD THE BEST GEEKGASM OF MY LIFE!

So I totally ordered pizza from Dominos and in the instructions I asked them who their favorite Undertale character was and they should write it on the box. As soon as we got the Pizza I ran into the kitchen and opened the lid of the box. Inside they had written: "Anyone other than Toriel is the WRONG ANSWER #Goatmomforlife"

I swear to god I squeed in my kitchen for a good ten minutes!

For the LOVE

Chapter 5: Believe in the light

[Friday]

It had only taken a few days for me to unpack once we had finally moved in and I was feeling more at home than I ever had. I had chosen Papyrus' old room next to Sans and Liz had taken the room across the hall, over top of the kitchen.

We all fell into a routine pretty quickly. Liz and I would wake early enough for our jobs, make a decent breakfast for us all and Sans would eventually join us to grab a cup of coffee in a tumbler and then disappear to wherever he worked during the day.

I was able to walk down through town to a nice building Asgore had purchased as his new headquarters. No longer we're we stuck in the middle of the city, fighting traffic and having to deal with the less friendly humans. Instead we were able to grab muffins at Muffet's Bakery in the morning and chat on the small roof top longue he had designed. We would still have to take the occasional trip to the city for a live meeting when required, but most preferred video conferences with the King of Monsters.

Asgore had made a nice reception area to great guests in the front of the building, with a chest high counter that hid my computer and phone behind it. The room felt modern with metal work and wood accents but we had added large photos of various monsters and their lives on the walls with fresh flowers in large vases in any corner of the room.

It had been a slow Friday morning as Asgore sat in his office contemplating paperwork and I was making arrangements for a meeting with the head of the Anti-Monster Coalition when Sans walked in the door. He hadn't noticed me behind my desk as he walked in so I took the time to study his appearance. He was dressed in his favorite blue hoodie, dark jeans and a pair of beat up tennis shoes but he had a long white lab coat on as well. His face said he was less than pleased, his permanent smile downturned as he sighed.

When he finally noticed me, he began to smile again. I smiled back as I motioned for him the give me a second to get off the phone.

"I have it set for that Monday morning, ten am at the Ebott Luxury Hotel, Penthouse Suites… Would you like for us to make the arrangements? … Yes sir. See you then. Thank you." I hung up the phone and stood up.

"Good morning Sans! What brings you here?" I leaned forward and placed my elbows on the counter separating us.

"more like afternoon now, Lauren. it's almost twelve-thirty," he chuckled as he mirrored me on the other side.

"Damn…. I lost track of time… That tends to happen when I'm dealing with the Dragon Lady and her minions," I laughed. "Can I help you with something? Asgore should be having a video conference right about now."

"actually, i was hoping to talk to gore about some stuff but if he's busy do you want to grab something to eat?" he smirked. "i have a feeling you haven't had anything but grillby's breakfast menu yet…"

"I would love that. Let me just tell Asgore that I'm heading out," turned to the wooden door behind me. We had had the place sound proofed so no one could overhear anything Asgore would be talking about so I had to knock on the door.

"Come in!" I heard Asgore call from behind the door.

I leaned in the cozy office, keeping most of my body outside and balancing on the door frame so I wouldn't be spotted by the camera placed on the wall opposite his desk, projecting his picture to a local delegate.

"I'm headed out for lunch but I'll lock the door behind me ok?" I whispered.

He mouthed a thank you as I shut the door, the sound of the local politician droning on from the speakers on his desk.

Sans was waiting by my desk, looking at the picture frame I kept of Liz and me from our younger days. He didn't say anything, just placed the photo back on the desk, and placed his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.

"ready?" He asked holding his left elbow out as he turned toward the door.

"Ready. Are we walking?" I asked as I threaded my arm though his. "I have to lock the front door on the way out ok?"

"sure, but don't worry, I know a shortcut," he said as we walked out first set of double doors. He waited as I locked them behind me and stored the key back on a small keychain on my wrist. Waving his right hand in front of the next door, we stepped through his dark portal into Grillby's.

[Lunch at Grillby's]

They walked into Grillby's arms linked and Sans lead her to his favorite seat at the edge of the bar. He watched as she slid onto her barstool, careful to keep her skirt down. She was wearing a blue, ruffled, long sleeve button down, tucked into a black pencil skirt that hugged her slim thighs and a pair of black high heels. Any other time he would have considered them "fuck me" shoes, but with her hair down and a light bit of makeup on her face he figured it was a total "fuck me" outfit.

He had completely forgotten that she was Asgore's assistant when he had walked in to talk to the King. He hadn't seen much of her that week as things at the Lab had been keeping him out longer than normal so the women had already been asleep when he would arrive home. He couldn't complain though, they had been leaving him home cooked meals in the fridge with little notes but he figured those had been from Lauren.

Liz hadn't been exactly warm to him but she hadn't been nasty either in their interactions since moving in. He hadn't had time to ask Lauren anything about it and it didn't seem like the time on their impromptu lunch date. It had surprised him how much he was enjoying this already.

Grillby came by to take their order, she had decided on a burger and he duplicated the order asking for a bottle of ketchup as well.

"This early in the day?" she teased as she leaned on the bar facing him.

"can't pass on gillbz ketchup…" he leaned forward on the counter.

"So…." She started, leaning back. "What brought you to Asgore today?"

"eh… just some stuff, but that is all work related. we're on a break, right? how are you doing with the house?" he countered. It was more personal than work related but he didn't want to give that away just yet.

"Well, I got everything unpacked and I figured out how to use the washing machine in the basement. If you ever need us to run a load for you, just let me know. I mean I hate laundry but it's not so bad now that I don't have to go down four flights of stairs to change it out of the wash," she smiled.

He had been there with Papyrus to help them move their belongings into the house from their apartment and knew what a pain going up any of those stairs had been. By the end he had just been teleporting boxes to the house directly.

"that's good to know…" he hated laundry as well and had always waited for Pap to do it for him when the need arose.

A comfortable silence fell upon them as she stared at the light wood paneled bar. He hands were fidgeting in her lap now, a small blush spreading on her cheeks.

"I was thinking… Liz has a date tonight and I was going to stay up and watch some movies… When you get off from your job would you like to join me?" She kept her eyes down as she asked.

"…sure… i've got nothin' better planned. what kind of movies we talkin'?" he shrugged. He figured if he got in to talk to Gore after lunch and finished his work with Alphys, he could make it home before Lauren and set everything up beforehand.

"I hadn't decided yet…"she pondered.

Grillby came back with their food and they made small talk about movie choices as they devoured the burgers. Grillby signed that he would put the meal on his tab when they had finished and Sans hopped off his stool to walk Lauren back to the office.

He used the back door this time and opened another dimension door to the building where she worked, arms linked again as she unlocked the inner doors.

"mind if i pop in to talk to gore?" he said as they neared her desk.

"Sure, let me just check that it's clear first," she knocked and leaned in the door again.

He watched her stretch in the doorframe, watching her backside like he had earlier.

'damn, this day needs to go by quicker…' he thought as she leaned back and gave him the all clear.

Walking into the small office he hoped that maybe he would be able to get her comfortable enough with him that she wouldn't mind playing out a few of his fantasies tonight.

[Sans' House]

Work had wrapped up later than I had hoped. I peeled off my heels as I walked in the door, my feet sore after I had had to entertain a surprise meeting from a Senator right as we had been locking up for the day. I leaned against the door as it closed and sighed. I had hoped I had time to shower before Sans got home but as I looked at the TV, I could see he had beaten me to the punch.

"long day kid?" he called from the couch. I walked around towards the stairs, taking my shoes up with me.

"Yeah… Let me go change into something more comfortable and I'll be right back down…" I sighed as I trudged upstairs.

It only took a few minutes for me to swap out my work apparel for a pair of yoga pants, long sleeve tee and pull my hair up. I came back down, looking at Sans lounging in his usual attire, now without his lab coat.

"I meant to ask you at lunch, but where do you work exactly?" I plopped into the opposite side of the couch, moaning as it sucked me into its depths. I was internally thankful that we had decided to dump our old couch in favor of the one Sans' already had. I lifted my head to look at the coffee table we had kept, noticing that he had covered it in snacks and bottles of ketchup for our movies.

"i work at a lab with alph, working on alternative forms of energy. government funded kind of stuff…" he said, taking a gulp from his bottle of ketchup.

I realized this was the first time we had been alone together since the night of the dinner. Someone had always been in the house or we had been out in public with our friends each time before that.

"That's actually pretty cool!" I said as I got up from the couch. I headed towards the kitchen, and began searching the fridge. I knew Liz and I had bought some wine the last time we had been out so I grabbed the bottle when I found it and began the process of uncorking it.

Wine in hand, I came back to the couch, sinking back into my side of the couch. He had found some old reruns of live stand ups and we watched in silence for a few minutes before I decided on what I wanted from the night. I knew almost nothing about him, and we had so many questions that we still hadn't answered so what the heck…

"Alright," I stated as I placed my glass on an empty space in the coffee table. "We are now alone. Both of us are comfy, right? Why don't we ask questions? I know next to nothing about you and we've got things to figure out and…." I turned toward him, bringing my feet under me. "Let's trade?"

He seemed to think for a minute before he sat up to face me.

"…sure. Let's do that," he turned the volume down on the TV and grabbed another bottle of ketchup.

"Well, I went first with the question about your job so…. It's your turn. Shoot." I lifted my head up and looked back towards him.

"…alright… easy one first. what is your last name?" he tilted the rim of the bottle in my direction as he finished.

"My full legal name is Lauren Azelia Wolfstien, but to be honest I've never felt like it fit me," I shrugged.

He nodded, knocking back his bottle. "your turn…"

"Ok…" I grabbed my glass of wine again. We could make this into a drinking game if he wanted. "What is YOUR last name?"

"cheat. it's skeleton." He lifted his brow bone, imitating lifting his eyebrows.

I took a sip of my wine in response. "Your turn."

"why is your hair so long?" he mused.

We were being honest so I decided to give him the actual answer and not the line I had fed everyone else.

"When I woke up in the hospital it was kinda in a short bob but when I looked in the mirror, I didn't recognize myself so I started to grow it out. I told myself that when I remembered everything, I would cut it again" I watched as he took his next drink. "Do you have any other family besides Papyrus?"

It took him a minute, he busied himself peeling the label from the bottle as he thought.

"i had a dad at one time but he's not with us any longer. i don't think we ever had a mom…"

His answer gave me more questions but I took my drink as our silent rules dictated.

"ok… a bit harder this time… you said you had a bad relationship in the past. what was this guy like?"

"Heh… Mike was your average guy. He had been in the Army and had a way with words when he wanted to. I met him in a bar when Liz had dragged me with her on a double blind date. I was at a weird point in my life, trying to fix other people while I ignored my own problems so when I found a guy who seemed to worship the ground I walked on, I grabbed on tight. Liz saw the signs before I did... He was different when we were alone but out in public he treated me like trash. I thought I could deal with it as long as he was nice to me when it was just the two of us but he started to change even when we were alone. It wasn't until he broke my arm one night that I really woke up." I smiled in self-deprecation. "I wasn't the smartest cookie and kind of swore off dating for a while."

He drank his ketchup after I finished, swapping it out for a fresh one when he was done.

"Um… next one…. Oh! How do monsters make babies?" I had been curious since Alphys had said something about wanting children when we had been at brunch last Sunday.

He had to blink a couple of times before he answered, a blush coating his cheeks.

"uh… well, damn. I haven't had to have this talk since paps was much younger… um, ok," He crossed his legs under him, placing his hands on his thighs. "well, when two monsters love each other… they call it finding their soulmate. there is usually only one soulmate per monster but usually they can find each other no matter the circumstances. they go through a bonding ceremony, similar to a human marriage but with magic that intertwines their souls together so they can share their magic when needed. since monsters are made of magic, the partners must physically combine their souls together, hoping that they can use their combined magic and love to make a new soul that will plant itself in the receiving partner's body. as i said, it takes a lot of magic and probably a few tries to get it right but eventually they will create a new soul. this soul will use the magic in the host to create a body for itself, as the partner gives their magic through their link to keep the other healthy. we call these links heartstrings and you can have heartstrings for all your bonds, but only a soulmate will become gold and unbreakable after the lifebinding. then it's like a regular pregnancy… the mate carries the child for about nine months and when the kid is ready to be born a magical midwife will help the couple deliver."

I took a gulp of my wine at this, feeling it rush to my head as the new information settled.

"ok… my turn…" he leaned back into the arm of the couch and crossed his arms, his eyes losing their lights.

"::how do you know wingdings?::"

I blushed, thinking of the choice phrase I had chosen to yell when Papyrus had spooked me.

"Well, and this may seem silly but I swear it's true, I had an imaginary friend when I was a kid." He raised a skeptical eye-bone at this. "I swear it's true. You'll have to ask Liz… When I first woke up in the hospital, it was all I would speak. At first everyone thought I had lost the ability to form words but after a while it was like a switch flipped in my head. I just started speaking English again and everyone dismissed it. When I tried to tell the nurses about my friend they all laughed saying I was too old to be having imaginary friends at my age. Sometimes he would come to school with me and we would have conversations together but the other kids would tease me about it. I tired teaching it to Liz but I guess it's a skill that many don't have so I quit. After a while, I stopped seeing my friend, though I drew him a few times while I was in college and I only tend to use it when I need to curse or have had a REALLY bad nightmare." I had been looking at my hands as I spoke and finally glanced up to look at Sans.

He quickly knocked back his drink and gestured for my next question. The lights in his eyes had not returned but he seemed less stiff after my answer.

"Ok… Um… Oh! What kind of magic do you have? I mean I've seen you teleport and stuff but that's about it…" I shrugged as I leaned back into couch.

He smirked as his left eye started to glow, casting an eerie light on the couch. Behind him a large skull appeared and his left hand began to glow in blue flames. The skull reminded me of a wolves but more angular and missing the proper nasal cavity. It also had glowing blue eyes and seemed to growl as it floated over his shoulder.

"I'm gonna break our rule a little bit… Can I pet them? Please?" I put my wine glass down, too excited to keep it in my hands.

He laughed, throwing his head back and bending backwards over the couch.

"sure! but don't say I didn't warn you!" he flicked his left hand forward and the skull glided through the air towards me.

I lifted my hands to touch the skull and lightly pet in between it's eye sockets.

"Does it have a name?"

"a gasterbalster doesn't need a name…" he laughed even harder.

It seemed to take offense at that and swung to growl at him before turning back to me for more or my stroking. It seemed to nuzzle into my chest before it drifted back behind Sans' shoulder.

"down boy…" he patted it's muzzle before he closed his eyes and the Blaster disappeared.

"Anything else?" I smiled.

"hey, that's like three now… but yes. you've seen my shortcuts but I can also teleport but I prefer to do that without anyone else. too many variables. i think i also stopped time once… oh and i can do this…" his eye lit back up as he snapped his fingers and I felt his magic wrap around me and lift me into the air. I had to push my shirt down as he spin me upside down a few feet from the ceiling.

"Ok this is too cool but you have to put me back down…"

"fear of heights?"

"Not exactly… Just a fear of falling. I don't mind being up high once I'm there but I hate the sensation of falling," I tried to keep the slight panic out of my voice as I slowly spin in the air.

He stretched out of the now empty couch and drifted me to float above him, still held tight by his magic. With a snap of his fingers it was gone and I fell the last few inches, landing on top of him.

"don't worry kid… i'll always catch you," he placed his hands on my hips as I kept my weight on my hands.

Maybe it was the wine, but I felt the warmth in my chest spread to my face.

"You keep calling me 'kid'. How old are you anyways?" I pouted with my blush.

"i think i hit one-ninety this year…" he gazed at the ceiling in thought. "anyways… my turn."

Neither of us moved as he stared at me.

"how did you know you could heal me that night?"

I looked away as I thought back to my initial panic after the crash. I had been woken up on the ceiling of the limo, Asgore groaning softly next to me. I had kicked the limo door open and dragged him out fearing the car would catch fire. When I had run back for Sans I had found him pinned at an awkward angle leaning against the solid part of the divider. My chest had tightened as I looked at his leg, bent at an impossible angle near the remainder of the bench and I pulled him out praying he wasn't dead. I had placed him on the asphalt and ripped the leg of his suit, shaking the entire time trying to assess the damage. His tibia had been broken in half but the break was clean so I had worked quickly to reset it, hoping that he had a super monster healing but I knew in my heart he didn't. Instead I zoned out and placed both hands around the break and pulled the warmth from my chest willing it to heal.

I came back from my memories as Sans began stroking up my back under my shirt. He had pulled me down on top of his chest as I shook and continued running his hands up and down my spine.

"I had no idea…" I croaked form a lump in my throat. "I was so worried that you were dead, I just kind of zoned out. When I realized what I was doing, and the fact that it was working, I was just so amazed that you were alive I didn't even question it."

I didn't understand why the thought of him dead made my chest ache until he spoke.

"… we're soul mates kid… that's why," he whispered into my hair as I realized I had voiced my thoughts.

"How can you know that Sans…. We've only known each other for about a month…"

"i'll show you…" he slid his hands down my back once more, using his right to pull me into the crook of his arm and the back of the couch.

Using his left hand, he tapped his breast bone through his shirt, and pulled it up wards like he was holing a string in between his fingers. Slowly a blue, glowing heart followed the string. He placed his hand under it, moving his right arm around my head so he could point to the tiny pieces of wire that seemed to rise out of it. They were only about three inches long but each one had its own hue. He tapped a thin golden one, rising out of the dead center of the heart. It had the thickness of piano wire and looked like it would break of he touched it. He turned his head to look at me as I pushed myself to my elbow.

"How do you know it's me?" I asked as I looked him in the eyes.

He smiled softly and looked back at the wire, pinching it between two fingers and tugging it backwards toward the center.

An answering glow came from my chest and I placed my hand on my chest. Slowly he moved his hands away and his soul slid back in his shirt, once again hidden.

I laid back down as he moved his arm back behind me, placing my right hand on where his soul had come from.

"I had a dream the first night we were here on this couch. The first one I've ever had…" I mumbled still awestruck.

"what about?"

"Us… At first I was so sure it was a dream but when I had seen your room the next morning… Well, now I'm not so sure…"

We laid there in silence, both lost in our own heads, and the light from the TV shifted and moved.

"there's a baby shower for tori next weekend. i was gonna host it here if that's ok…"

I smiled into his chest. Mundane things were a safe topic.

"It's your house Sans but now I have to go get a present!" I laughed.

"i would get two of them. i'm pretty sure she has twins. alph was excited after the last checkup tori had but it's supposed to be a gender reveal thing… so tori and gore have no idea…"

"Awww… That's super cute…"

Again we let the silence drift between us but I had seen something funny so I started to move across Sans to grab the remote. Realizing our height differences and the couch structure I scooted my body over his so we were still lying side by side but he was behind me.

Slowly he moved, leaning on his left elbow and placing his chest to my back. I leaned backwards, grabbing his right hand and placing it around my middle, while I rested my head on the inside of my arm.

The warmth in my chest had doubled and I could feel a similar heat at my back as we watched as some girl strip off her tights and began yelling at the crowd about her thighs touching.

The rest of my questions could wait till later. Right now, I was going to bask in the warmth of the skeleton I was falling in love with.


	6. You're all I see, All I feel

Ok so I gave upon the Spotify idea…. I just use YouTube anyways… so here ya go ya filthy animals!

channel/UCAsIVv5fW76s1vblH81p2rA

That's my channel and I switch between my "Beats" playlist and the "Mega Mix". I also have made a playlist for the music featured in this Chapter.

ANYWAYS! On to the story? Yeah… ok….

It's a bit choppy but bear with me ok? It's important stuff… Or at least I think it is…

Just fall in love with me guys…..

For the LOVE

Chapter 6: You're all I see, all I feel

[Saturday]

The sun must have been bouncing off the TV, because I awoke late that next morning, still on the couch with Sans' arm around me. It took a minute before I realized where I was and I debated moving and waking him, when I heard him huff and felt him begin to stretch.

"Good morning….." I mumbled as I flipped over to look at him.

"morn…." He groaned. He began to stretch and I could hear his bones clicking together. Magic or not, apparently he still had to crack his knuckles like a normal person. I yawned as I pushed myself upright and began to shuffle toward the kitchen. It took a second for Sans to join me, scratching the back of his head as he reached for the coffee pot. We worked together in silence, making breakfast and setting the table for the two of us.

As we ate, I began to notice that he was keeping his head down, sipping his coffee and trying not to look at me.

"You've never done this before have you?" I asked, placing my fork down on my empty place and grabbing for my cup of tea.

"…not really…" he sighed. "most of the women in my life have been either good friends, or casual…. um… dates?" He shrugged.

"So you had a bunch of one night stands? Did you ever have a relationship?" I questioned.

"a few but they never lasted long. i mostly stayed at their house when we were together and left before they woke up," he leaned back in his chair resting his free arm around the back of it.

"I have a feeling some of them were weird at first right?"

"sure… i mean there was this one who was obsessed with watching me eat. i didn't realize it at the time but she had kept a journal of every time i ate in front of her and one night i even saw her checking the inside of my pants like the food would be sitting in the fucking crotch of my pants," he chuckled.

I sat there with my mouth agape, questioning the sanity of the women he had been with.

"::well fuck…::" I muttered. "That makes my story about Scary Nick sound like a cake walk…."

"scary nick?"

"Yeah…. It was in my teens. I met this guy at a tattoo parlor and we started hooking up. The guy was weird looking. Tattoos, shaved head, and piercings everywhere…. And i do mean EVERYWHERE. When I told Liz she just about hurled," I laughed. "Speaking of Liz… what time is it?"

He leaned to look at the stove clock.

"it's almost noon, must have been a good date…"

I frowned. It wasn't like Liz to not text me when she wouldn't be home, so I excused myself to check my phone. I found it in my room under a small pile of my discarded clothing from work, the screen flashing with multiple texts. I read them as I came back downstairs and sat on the couch.

"Oh my god that little bitch finally spent the night with someone….. ::OH MY GOD SHE SPENT THE NIGHT WITH GRILLBY!::" jumped up from the couch as Sans stuck his head out from the kitchen.

"::what?!::"

"::SHE SPENT THE NIGHT WITH GRILLBY! SHE SENT ME A PICTURE! LOOK!::" I waved my phone in front of me as I danced towards Sans. He caught me around my waist, pulling me close as he grabbed my phone. The picture was a selfie, the two of them leaning on one another, surrounded by candle light at a very nice looking restaurant.

"::hot damn…::" he woofed.

I busted out laughing. I was too giddy for Liz to really comment on the fact that we had both been speaking in wingdings, plus his pun had been too perfect.

"So we kind of have the house to ourselves… What do you want to do? Did you have plans?"

"nah… but i got a few ideas… you said you had had a dream the first night we were here together…" he winked as he pulled me closer.

I smiled and started pulling him after me up the stairs. Maybe we could make both of our dreams come true today…

[Wednesday]

"So I told him I had a great time… and then one thing led to another and I ended up sleeping in his apartment above the restaurant," Liz had been telling me about her date with Grillby as we ate together on her lunch break at the local school. It was more of an elementary school, with smaller monsters running around in a playground area, jumping rope, and those that had arms, swinging on monkey bars.

"So you spent the whole weekend with him?" I asked around my pb&j.

"You know how you always say that you had a feeling in your chest? Well, I had mine finally and I took a chance. It was the best weekend of my life. I even helped him with the bar when it opened Saturday night, running food and serving drinks, the whole time we just kept passing each other and touching… it was like magic…" She sighed dreamily.

"So you ARE going to see him again right?"

"Hell yeah! I'm not letting this one slip through my fingers," She punched my arm playfully. "Now, tell me about you and Sans. What's going on?" Her face turned serious as she turned toward me on the bench we had chosen.

"Where do I start? So you know how monsters have soulmates right?"

"Yeah, Grillby explained it to me…" she blushed.

"Well… we're soulmates. I should've known by the way I was acting when I first met him, but I don't know… I guess I was so scared that I was the only one feeling it since we hadn't spent any time together, just by ourselves. But it was so comfortable... and now it just feels like we've been doing this forever," I looked at Liz. She was still grimacing but nodding at the same time.

"What?"

"Just… just be careful ok? I don't want to see you hurt," she patted my leg and gave it a tiny reassuring squeeze before packing up her lunch.

"I'll see you at home, ok? Love you!" she kissed my cheek and went towards the kids, ushering them inside.

[Baby Shower]

Mettaton had gone all out for the party. Sans' backyard was pretty big, with a small deck attached to the house, opening to a fenced in yard. There was enough space that Mettaton had been able to place a stage along the back, with lights and speakers, three large round tables with chairs and a buffet table along the left side. Balloons in purple and white were tied to the corners of the deck and there were small balloons tied to the stage and scattered along the fence. Sans stood on the deck, beside the grill as Grillby placed his famous hamburgers and dogs on the flames.

The Royal Guard had arrived together and had claimed an entire table to themselves, and Sans watched as Undyne boasted about her upcoming performance to them. Mettaton had decided that they wouldn't be playing regular party games but instead performing their own lip syncing contest for their amusement with Toriel being the judge. He had even convinced their friends to let him record it and place it on his talk show later that night.

Toriel and Asgore were the last to arrive, walking through the side gate, hand in hand. He waved at the couple as they found their seats closest to the stage. Lauren chose that moment to exit the house behind him. He hadn't seen much of her in the last week, she had been busy at work and he had been… well, he had been looking into the gaps in her memory. What he had found wasn't pretty but he was pretty sure his initial suspicions we're true, it was just trying to explain it all to her or wait until the right trigger for her lost to correct itself.

So what if it was a little selfish for him to be enjoying her company while he could.

She walked with Liz, a large sheet cake in her arms, and gave him a passing wink as she went to the buffet table. She was wearing a flowy, white, hi-low spaghetti strap shirt, with the tiniest bit if skin showing between it and her wide leg peach pants with white, wedged heels. The warm June weather was perfect for her outfit and he felt a little out of place in his blue shorts and white polo.

Beside him, Grillby whistled low in appreciation, looking at his own girlfriend. Sans chuckled as the girls looked over at them, heads bent together conspiring something.

He watched as they walked over to Napstablook behind his DJ platform behind the stage.

"we're in for it now, grillbz…." He muttered as Mettaton made a show of climbing onto the stage.

"~Hello Darlings! Thank you all for coming to the Dreemurr Baby Gender Reveal Party! In lieu of normal games that the humans tend to play, I've decided that we are going to have a lip syncing contest!~" The gathered group hooted and hollered. "~The ultimate judge of this contest will be our LOVELY Queen Toriel! The winner of this contest will not only be featured on my very own talk show 'Confessions of a Killer Robot' but will also cut the cake revealing the gender of the newest member of our Royal Family!~" More cheers rang as Mettaton walked around the stage, the small robots manning the cameras tracking his every move from the corners of the stage.

"~Well then, if you are ready Mrs. Judge? Then let the Lip syncing commence! First on the stage, our very own Captain of the Royal Guard, Undyne and her super cute girlfriend, and my wonderful creator, Alphys!~" Undyne and Alphys walked onto the stage behind him. "~They will be performing to 'Crossing Field' by LiSA! Alright everyone, make some noise!~"

Undyne was dressed in a black leather duster with white accents, black shirt and black pants while Alphys was dressed in a white tank top connected to sleeves by red fabric, a red and white skirt and her version of thigh high white boots with red accents.

As the music started, it built to a crescendo and the two began to wave and side step with the lyrics. There was a lot of pointing and holding as they moved their mouths to the words, spoken in a mix of Japanese and English. They twirled and danced to the beat of the song, everyone seeming to have a good time while the lights flashed and flickered.

When the song was over, the entire table of guards jumped up to applaud their captain as she pumped her fist and hugged the small yellow dinosaur woman.

"~That was certainly energetic! Next up we have the love of my life, the great and wonderful Papyrus! He will be preforming to 'The Fox' by Ylvis. Take it away Sweetie!~"

Papyrus took the stage and Sans realized that he had never exactly explained lip syncing to Pap as the song began and Papyrus started to sing the actual words, along with the artist. Everyone seemed to be good sports about it though, singing along with him as he danced in his own way around the stage.

When the song ended, everyone clapped, some having to wipe tears of laughter out of their eyes.

"~That was wonderful dear!~" Mettaton kissed his cheek and he bounded off the stage, his face alight. "Next is… You guessed it! None other than my beautiful self! I've chosen 'I Believe in a Thing Called Love' by The Darkness! Hit it cuz!~" He turned around, his back to the crowd as the glam rock began floating though the speakers.

When he turned back around, he had produced a blow up guitar and was pretending to play it like an actual one, strumming it and shifting his fingers on the neck to make chords. He posed and flipped his hair whenever he could, his mouth moving with the singer's words, even bending backwards on seemingly impossible high notes. When the song drew to a close he sank to a split at the front of the stage and everyone gave him a standing ovation.

"~Thank you my beauties! Thank you!~" He bowed, gesturing everyone to sit back down. "~Next we have one of our newest friends, the lovely… Liz! She will be performing 'Bad Reputation' by Joan Jett! Let's give her a welcoming round of applause!~"

Liz was dressed in a black, short A-line dress, shit-kicking boots and flaming, fire tights. Her makeup was neat and but dark and as the song started she got everyone clapping and dancing with her wild jumping and shaking. She was totally free and wild on stage and Sans had to look at Grillby as he clapped and smiled. He was thankful that they had found each other, she seemed like the perfect loud accent to his quiet demeanor.

Liz bowed as the song finished and flounced off the stage, hugging her friend in the process. Mettaton took the stage again and Sans could see it was Lauren's turn so he leaned on the deck railing so he could see her the entire time.

"~Alright Darlings! On to our final performance for the day! Last but certainly not least, we have Asgore's OTHER right hand, Lauren! She will be lip syncing and dancing to Mark Ronson's 'Uptown Funk'! Ooooo a personal favorite of mine! Let's get this going!~"

The song started and Lauren strutted to the front of the stage, arms clapping to the beat. Her hips seemed to have a mind of their own as she posed and fanned herself with the lyrics. Sans was entranced, sure that his smile couldn't get any bigger. She was lively and smiling, even jumping from the stage to dance with everyone in the crowd before making her way to him and dragging him back with her to the stage.

"Just go with it…" she whispered as she danced around him. It took him a few seconds but soon he was dancing with her, matching her step for step. The song drew to a close and he spun her around before dipping her to the floor for a kiss.

The entire group jumped to their feet in applause and cheers as they bowed together hand in hand. Mettaton joined them on the stage, never needing a mic for this small group of friends.

"~Ok Toriel…. It's decision time!~" a hush fell over the group, all staring at the goat woman who was looking at her husband.

"I believe EVERYONE would agree who won this contest Mettaton!" Toriel giggled. "Sans and Lauren should cut the cake!"

Everyone cheered and together the entire group moved toward the buffet table. It was now filled to the brim with burgers and dogs and every kind of fixing you could imagine with a cake at the very end. Muffet had baked it personally from a sealed envelope so no one but Alphys and Muffet actually knew what color the cake would be inside. The cake had been decorated in the Royal purple and white with the words "Welcome Baby Dreemurr" on the top.

Toriel stood beside Asgore as Sans and Lauren worked together to cut a small square out of the corner of the big sheet cake. Lauren quickly covered the slice in a napkin and Sans handed it to Asgore. Everyone waited in bated breath as Toriel pulled the napkin off to reveal a pink and blue swirled cake underneath the frosting.

"Y-you're having twins!" Alphys squeaked from beside Undyne.

"called it…" Sans whispered in Lauren's ear as she beamed. A chair had been brought behind Asgore and he sank into it before he passed out. Toriel stood with tears in her eyes and hugged her husband, the entire group cheering and chortling at the King's reaction.

"Did you have any names picked out Toriel?" Lauren asked. Sans could see that she was almost bursting with excitement, she couldn't sit still and he had to place his hands on her shoulders to keep her in one place as she stood in front of him.

"Actually we did. Lyra, after my mother and Valen, after Asgore's grandfather. I didn't think we'd get to use both though!" She laughed as a chair was brought for her.

"~Well there you have it Beauties! We will be expecting not one, but TWO royal children in the coming months!~" Mettaton turned to address one of the cameras that had moved to record the cake cutting. "~And next week we will have Sans the Skeleton and Lauren with us on the show! Later Beauties!~"

With that the party resumed a normal pace. Everyone ate as Toriel and Asgore opened baby gifts from their friends, commenting on needing multiples of everything they already had at the house.

Sans ate and drank with his friends and family, Lauren by his side, enjoying the glowing feeling deep in his chest the entire rest of the party.

[Later that Night]

They laid in bed together, Sans caressing her naked back as she drew on the back of a piece of paper she had found on his desk.

"Hey Sans, what does my soul look like?" she had finished her drawing, staring up at him from her position on the mattress.

"i dunno… i could show you but it'll leave a mark…" He looked at her, his skull resting in his left palm.

"Like a tattoo? Would it hurt?" She flipped over, her breasts just visible from the moonlight coming in his uncovered window.

"nah… but it is permanent…"

"What will the mark look like?" She hooked her right pinky in his lowest rib causing him to moan as she stroked it.

"everyone's mating mark is different…" he said tracing her tattooed hip.

They had discussed their mutual dream last weekend, both surprise and pleasure had filled them as they had recreated it.

"Well, I'm ready when you are!" she wiggled a little beside him as he chuckled. She had taken to the idea of soulmates better than he could have ever dreamed.

An intimate feeling filled the room as he slowly raised himself to a seated position, facing her with his back against the wall.

Using his left hand, he activated his magic, causing his hand and eye to glow before lightly tapping the space below her left collarbone and pulled upward into the space above her body.

A soft red light followed the invisible string and just below his fingers was her soul. She gasped as she saw it, floating slowly above her chest and he had to check her as he continued to pull. The soul was shaped like a read heart, but where his had been whole and seamless; hers was cracked and shattered, held together in some places by pieces of a black, glimmering monster soul. Slowly she placed her hand underneath it as she had seen him do and sat up against the headboard.

"Why… Why does it look like it's been broken and glued back together?" her voice quiet in fear.

He shrugged, at a loss for words but so many questions came to mind.

Who? How? What the fuck had happened?

Instead he watched her inspect the soul, noting the heartstrings attached, including the gold one that had shimmered to life and attached to his chest. It had gotten much thicker; almost the width of his thumb now, and a pulse seemed to echo through it into his.

Answering her soul's call, his was pulled from behind his ribcage, landing in his palm and connecting the golden threads.

They sat in stunned silence as the two pulled each other closer until they combined in a blinding white light before flying back into their chests. A small glow came from the places where the souls had entered and they waited for their eyes to adjust to the dark of the room while they caught their breath.

Once calm, Lauren jumped from the bed, racing next door to the bathroom, unabashed in her nakedness as Liz had decided to spend another weekend with a certain fire monster. Sans took his time finding and putting on shorts before teleporting to the bathroom.

She was leaning over the small pedestal sink, staring and touching the new tattoo above her left breast with amazement. He moved into the space behind her, taking stock of his own chest. In the center of his breastbone was a two-dimensional GasterBlaster in a deadly black as if it had been burned in.

"Not gonna lie that was so cool…." She turned toward him, hopping from foot to foot, her earlier fear from her broken soul a distant memory.

He smiled but it didn't quite reach his eyes as his mind was still wrapped up in the barrage of questions regarding the condition of her soul and how it had gotten that way.

It looked like he would be spending the rest of the night in his secret room instead of beside her in his bed.


	7. Heads in the past breed only empty heart

For the LOVE

Chapter 7: Heads in the past breed only empty hearts

[10 Years Ago]

Sans was hunched over his desk in his secret room in the basement, plans and drawings laid out before him in no clear pattern. He had gotten taller since reaching the surface so the tiny, sound proofed room under the stairs in the basement made it difficult for him to pace as he would have liked. Without a door, the room only held a single light bulb illuminating all four of the concrete walls, covered in ever theory, graph or picture he had of Frisk.

'If anyone is going to honor the kid, it would be me,' Sans thought.

He had volunteered to head the construction of a memorial to honor the fallen children who had given their lives to save the monsters from the Underground. It would be his last hurrah for Frisk. With this, he would put them to rest and move on with his life. His stubborn heart would always be broken, thinking of a small child for the end of his days but at least he could try to go on.

Maybe he would date a few monsters? Muffet was single and any time they had crossed paths she had seemed interested. She was definitely a 'black widow' but if it was good for them both, why would he care?

He shook his head to clear it and looked back at his papers. Toriel had wanted to honor ALL the fallen children and despite his protests, he had added Chara to the monument. From Toriel's description and his own scattered memories of the child, they had been very similar to his Frisk but where the crazy had bled into Chara's features after a time, Frisk had been all softness.

He had finally cracked the code of the genocide timelines when Toriel had described Chara. How the two had become intertwined, he still didn't know, but he knew that when all of his friends were dying, Frisk hadn't been driving.

It had made it easier, the memories of their good times together, untainted with dust once more.

He spread his hands over the sketches he had done and the final renderings of the memorial. Once he finished this, he would say goodbye for good. His chest tightened at the thought and he had to grab the front of his shirt at the pain.

It took him off his chair, to his knees and he stayed in his basement like that for the rest of the evening, bright blue tears falling from his face.

[Tuesday Morning – Present Day]

I had woken up alone again this morning so when Mettaton had asked me to lunch to discuss my appearance on his show, I took it. We had stopped by a vendor to grab some sandwiches and Mettaton had suggested we eat in the park since the weather was so nice.

Since the Monsters had claimed the land for their city, they had kept the human park updated and clean with new benches, art and even a memorial. As we came to the center of the park we stopped at the large metal artwork, both lost in thought.

"Mettaton…. Why is Sans so distant sometimes?" I asked. Both of us had stopped in front of a large concrete dais, atop depicted three children standing on the center of a mound of flowers, their back to each other and their shoulders touching, with their hands behind their back.

"Sans… is complicated dear…" he said gazing at the children. All of him seemed to slump as he exhaled. "He's smart enough to have figured out teleportation but too lazy to pick up his socks when asked… I mean, Alphys told me that at age 50 he was in line to be the next royal scientist but he walked away from it all. None of us have been able to get close to him, even Papy he holds at an arm's length…" He looked up at the statue. "Take this for example. It was commissioned to remember the fallen children who gave their souls to save us from the Underground. Do you know who designed it?" He turned on one heeled boot and plopped into a bench facing away from the kids. I sat beside him, quizzical expression on my face.

"Sans, Darling!" He laughed, "Yes… that Sans… He designed the entire thing. From the children to the names etched into the flower bed, and how it would allbe centered into this park. We were all surprised on how it turned out…. But the day of the ceremony…. He never showed up," Mettaton swung an arm of the back of the bench and pointed at a name, seamlessly etched into the metal. "These names were the children who came after the Prince had died."

"The Prince?" I asked.

Mettaton gestured to a small goat like child standing behind us. Even though the metal work, I could tell he took after Toriel and Asgore.

"Prince Asriel Dreemurr"

I leaned to the side, and I could see a handful of flowers held behind his back. I stood up from the bench and waved at the statue to Asriel's left.

"What about this one?"

"That is Frisk," Mettaton sighed with a small smile on his face as he rose to join me in front of the next child.

"They fell to the Underground as the last child and with their help we were able to break the barrier."

Again I leaned to each side, trying to see what the child held. A small stick was in it's firm grasp, not thick enough to be any type of threat.

"And this one…?"I asked, already moving to the next side.

"This was the first child to fall to the underground. They were taken in by the King and Queen and raised as their own before a terrible fate befell them."

It was harder to see what the child was holding and I had to pull myself onto the dais and lean forward with my head angled, almost touching the metal flowers. Behind it's back was a knife, clenched tightly in it's fists. I leaned back, slightly shaken.

"What was their name?" I turned toward Mettaton who had been watching me closely.

"That child's name was Chara…"

"Ch-Chara?" I mumbled. My chest was suddenly tight and my head was swimming. I was starting to see black spot could my vision.

"Lauren…. Lauren? What's wrong dear?" I could feel Mettaton trying to hold me up as my knees were giving out. As my vision faded I could hear the distant sound of a panicked Mettaton on the phone.

[The Lab]

Sans had felt the pain in his chest and panicked. Had something happened to Pap? He slid down the wall he had backed into as he had entered his office. He could hear Alphys on the phone as she came running into the room. His soul was pounding loud in his head and he could only make out every other word.

"Sans – Park – Lauren – Collapsed…" Alphys was beside him trying to get his attention, her arms waving all over the place before she hid her face.

"what…. happened…?" He mumbled. The pounding was receding and he took a couple unneeded breaths.

"M-Mettaton and Lauren were in the p-park! S-she suddenly collapsed!" Alphys was on her hands and knees beside him. "A-are you well enough to go get her? I-I've been studying human anatomy and w-we have those rooms for injured monsters…" He stutter was less when she was lost in her own thoughts.

Sans pushed himself back up and shook his head once to clear his vision.

"yeah… i'll be right back… get a room ready…" He took a step forward and teleported out of the room.

He was in the park beside the Memorial a second later. Mettaton had Lauren's head on his lap, slightly shaken from Sans' sudden appearance.

"meet us at the lab," he mumbled as he scooped his mate off the cold ground. She was light, lighter than he really wanted to question at that minute. Holding her close he teleported back to the lab forgoing his earlier fears of another person with him.

[The Void]

I was in the darkness again, the same darkness that seemed to grab hold of me every time I fell asleep, but this time it was different. I could see a small child. It seemed to be distorted, as if it was being projected though a bad connection on an old TV. It had short brown hair, a green and yellow stripped sweater, brown shorts and shoes, but the worst part was it's face. It was smiling but it's eyes were the brightest red I had ever seen and the smiled was twisted and contorted in malice and insanity. I could feel the recognition before it really hit me.

"Chara…" I whispered. My voice sounded like the scared eight-year-old I felt like.

It was like a starting bell, and Chara leapt toward me. I dodged, instinct from years before coming back to me. I knew what this was. Chara wanted to take control of me. Chara wanted to kill everyone and everything. Chara…

We had done this before. I remembered. I remembered the last fight we had had. I remembered the pain and fear of all my friends, rushing back to me, and how I had felt powerless to stop it. I remembered…

Chara slashed with a knife I didn't see and I rolled to dodge again but they were quick and caught my arm.

It was instinctual. I raised my arm and pushed at the magic I knew I had. Volleys of black bones flew from the ground and speared the child.

There was a look a surprise on it's face before the smile returned again.

I felt a shiver run down my back and sucked in a deep breath. This was going to take a while.

[The Lab]

It had been two days since she had passed out in the park and Sans hadn't left the Lab since they had put her on the support systems they had acquired. Every test Alphys did seemed to come back negative but Lauren seemed to be breathing on her own albeit a bit more ragged than normal. He sat forward in the plastic chair in the hallway and placed his hands in his lab coat.

His fingers touched a folded piece of paper and he pulled it out to examine it again.

She had drawn him the night their souls had connected. The art was amazing and depicted him sitting on one of the kitchen chairs dressed in his hoodie and tee shirt with jeans and a pair of slippers, leaning forward with his elbows on his thighs and his hands hanging in between his legs. On the bones right after his knuckles she had written 'love' on the right hand and 'hate' on the left while he was smirking at the outside world, his left eye glowing.

He hadn't posed for her so he still didn't know how she had done it but just looking at it had given him chills the next morning and he had stuck it in his pocket on his way to work.

He was so engrossed in the drawing that he didn't notice when Liz sat beside him. The sudden shadow on the drawing had spooked him but he sat back casually and refolded the picture before shoving it in his pocket and turned toward his mate's best friend.

Liz was stone faced and looking at him dead in the eyes when he raised one of his theoretical eyebrows at her. Liz had been in and out of their makeshift hospital for the last two days. Stopping by after work and going home when Grillby had come to get her each night. They never spoke, just sat in a tense silence each and every time but Sans wasn't having it today.

"what." he gritted out.

Liz leaned back in the chair next to him, her eyes a bit softer.

"You know all the tattoos she had?" Liz asked. "She drew them all. Every single one of them is from her reference and she had them inked into her. She's been drawing her memories for years…" She turned away from him to stare at the little window on the wall. Inside was Lauren, resting on a hospital bed with monitors surrounding her.

"At first I just let it go. What could it hurt right? But she never looked at them once she had drawn them, like she didn't remember ever drawing them. After a while they started to get darker and more disturbing… She saw a shrink and he said that the more she purged, the more she may remember and hopefully the better she would sleep…" She turned toward Sans again. "I've kept them all in a storage unit. At least ten year's worth. I've seen all of you before, but now I have names to go with faces… Do you know what my favorite one is?" she smiled sadly.

Sans just sat wide-eyed staring at her with his hands hanging in his lap. She had been drawing them? All of them? All the good and the bad? How? Why?

At her question he shook his head slowly before swallowing.

"It's you and your brother. You are both looking over your shoulders like you are holding hands with the observer. Do you know my least favorite?" he voice started to lose any of the natural warmth she had and Sans swore if she had eyelights like he did, they would've gone out.

"It's also of you. But you are wearing your brother's scarf thing… It's this beautiful hall with golden light filtering in but as you look lower, you can see where the tiles on the floor have been smashed and there is blood splatter on the columns and the floor. The worst part?" She cocked her head and smirked but there was no mirth behind it. "There is nothing around you for a few feet… and you are just standing there, smiling with your one glowing eye…" there was finally emotion in her eyes as she said it and Sans could swear it was a mix of fear and rage.

Slowly she sat back in her chair, the smirk falling into a small frown.

"When she had gotten her latest ink, it was like she was branding herself. Even though she didn't know you, even though she had no idea you existed, she was yours. The hero of her dreams and the demon of her nightmares," Liz looked back at her friend.

"You know who she is don't you…"

He finally spoke, the lights in his eyes had gone out and he also looked at the window.

"it's a long story…." He mumbled.

"It's enough…" She looked back at him.

"I've seen her in a hospital bed, more times than I can count…. More times than should be normal… I've seen every inch of her skin. I know every scar, nick, and mole. What I'm getting at here is…" She sat up straight, her eyes still on the skeleton beside her as he turned his blacked out eyes to her.

"If you hurt her like I think you have in the past, there will be more than hell to pay…." She glared at him.

"Lauren loves with her entire being Sans… The question is, are you willing to accept that? Whatever your past together may be like?"

[The Void]

I was tired. I was tired and fed up with this whole fucking thing. I just wanted to go home. I wanted to see Liz. I wanted to hug Sans a cry for however long I could about all the things I remembered but Chara wouldn't die.

I had thrown bones, I had teleported, I had even been able to shield myself the few times Chara had thrown their knife at me.

"Fuck this… Fuck you… Fuck everything… I just want to go home…" I could feel the rage burning in my chest.

"Who ever said you had control?" Chara giggled.

"I DID YOU SON OF A BITCH!" I threw up both of my hands and pointed them at the creature before me. Deadly black GasterBlasters circled them and fired in unison.

"Someone is getting a little testy…" Chara giggled from behind me and swiped at my exposed back. I tried to roll away but ended up on my hands and knees. Chara kicked me in my ribs, my eight year old body unable to move anymore, and rolled me onto my back. They sat on my hips, the knife in their hand raised high to strike me in the chest.

Time seemed to freeze as I remembered this exact fight. We had done this song and dance before. I remembered how it ended and I sighed. Chara would plunge their knife into my chest. But the wound wouldn't kill me, instead it would break apart my soul and Chara would be flung away giving me enough time to reset.

But I couldn't reset. Not anymore. I couldn't do that to everyone again. I couldn't doom Sans to relive it all over again, or myself for that matter. So how would I change this?

"::We take back your soul::"

Beside me stood Gaster. He was in his black lab coat and black slacks, the only real pieces of his body were his skeletal hands that looked to have holes punched out of them, and his head. It was just a skull, no teeth in his open mouth and his eye sockets had cracks; one above his right eye to the crown of his head and one below his left that seemed to stop right before his mouth.

"::I have my soul…::" I spoke back from the ground.

"::Not all of it. But I will help you get it back::"

"Why?" I asked. Wingdings seemed like too much work at the moment.

"::Just watch::"

In an instant time seemed to move but it was slower. I watched as my hand shot forward with the help of Gaster and dove right into the Chara's chest. I yanked it out after a second, pulling what felt like little shards of glass along with my hand.

A very wide eyed Chara slumped on my now twenty-eight year old form and seemed to melt into the surrounding darkness.

"::Now the fun part begins::" I swore I could hear him smiling beside me.

[The Lab]

He had felt the pain in his chest again. Pap had convinced him to go home and rest a few hours before coming back to the Lab again. He had been there for over a week now and apparently everyone was starting to get worried. Liz had even said that this was the longest Lauren had ever been asleep.

The pain in his chest had him right back at her bedside. At least he had had a shower and a decent meal.

She was sitting up and when he touched her hand she turned toward him. There was recognition. That was a good sign. She smiled at him, slowly at first, and then began to cry. Using his magic he locked the door to the room and climbed onto the bed.

He had to move carefully, all the wires and IV's were still hung behind the bed and he didn't want to accidently rip anything out of her. As soon as he got settled by her hips, she hugged him, the small cries turning into sobs.

"I'm sorry…. I'm sorry…" was all he could make out in between the ugly shutters and gasping. He let his head hang and thump onto her right shoulder as his arms closed around her.

She remembered.


	8. Heart in my hands and I can't decide

For the LOVE

Chapter 8: Heart in my hands and I can't decide

[The Lab]

"twenty years it a long fucking time to wait frisk…" Sans mumbled into her chest.

She had laid back on the pillows after her crying session and had dragged Sans with her, not willing to let him go now that she had him.

"Chara is dead." She leaned back against the pillows and sighed. "If it could've been done earlier, I would've, believe me Sans…"

He gripped her tighter, not willing to let the moment go.

"what now?" he mumbled. He was at a loss. What do they do next? Talk about everything? He didn't have the stomach for that right now, fuck you very much.

"Well, as much as I would love to keep doing this, it sounds like someone knows I am awake…" she pressed her lips to the crown of his skull as he realized there was banging and shaking of the door before it broke open and flew off it's hinges into the room.

Undyne was the first in the room, spear in hand and rage in her one good eye. At the sight of the two of them on the bed she lost all her steam and blushed.

"Oh…. Well shit, that's why the door was locked…." She mumbled.

Frisk laughed, shaking Sans as she tried to catch her breath.

"You never fucking change do you Undyne? This is almost as bad as when we caught your house on fire trying to cook!" Frisk had let go of Sans only to have to hold her sides as tears ran down her face, this time from laughing.

"We…never…. HOLY MOTHER OF ASGORE!" Sans watched as a lightbulb went off in Undyne's head. The fish woman was beside them in an instant, gaping as she looked down at the human on the bed.

The rest of their friends seemed to trickle in as Sans go off the bed and stood to Frisk's right, watching each of them look from Undyne to Frisk and back again.

Grillby and Liz seemed the last to arrive and Alphys moved around the monitors to check her patient.

"A-are you felling ok?" Alphys muttered as she grabbed Frisk's left wrist to take her pulse.

"Other than a wicked headache, I'm fine Alphys…. Probably better than I've ever been." Frisk turned to look at Sans on her right. He couldn't stop himself from grabbing her right hand and threading his fingers in between hers.

"Well, thank fuck…" Liz exhaled. "Now I can take care of that fucking storage unit…"

Sans chuckled as the rest of the group made more and more confused faces.

"I believe we are out of the loop on this…" Asgore muttered, looking straight at Sans.

Well, shit. How to explain this?

Alphys seemed to take the lead at this, still checking all the monitors.

"T-that's why I called you a-all here. Lauren IS Frisk. I-I had to run a DNA test on them t-to be sure but it had j-just come back." Alphys squeezed Frisk's shoulder before turning to the group and blushing. "I-it took a few weeks for it to come back b-but…" she mumbled off blushing as all the eyes in the room turned to her.

More than one of them had their mouths agape but it was Toriel who broke first.

"M-My child? Is it really you?" She left Asgore at the foot of the bed and moved beside Sans, who let go of Frisk's hand and stepped back toward to wall.

"Hi Mom… I would say you should hit me for disappearing like that but I don't want anything happening to my siblings…" Sans could see her smile from behind Toriel and felt the warmth of it hit his chest like a spotlight.

The rest of the day seemed to fly by with hugs and tears from all their friends, even a smile in his direction from Liz. Frisk promised that she would explain later but really wanted to get out of the bed and go home as soon as she could. Alphys really didn't have any discharge papers but stressed that she should call if she felt anything painful.

Sans was happy just to take her home and as they walked though his dimension door he pulled her close.

The stumbled into his room, both unwilling to let the other go and flopped onto the bed. The fear and trauma of the last few days seemed to settle into him as they lay there, both slightly shaking.

"I can't reset anymore Sans. We're safe. It's all fucking over." She mumbled into his jacket.

He shuddered one last time before he fell asleep, his snores the only sound in the room.

[Two Weeks Later]

Asgore was still letting me rest, my time in the Void with Gaster seemed to such all of the energy out of me so I could only be awake for a few hours at a time. Sans had kept everything as safe as he could, sleeping with me when he was home, going to work at a normal time and feeding me when I was awake enough to eat.

Sans was making breakfast in the kitchen and I was watching from the table when I finally got the courage to talk.

"Gaster pulled me into the void that day. I was dying. I had shattered my soul and run the entire timeline to free everyone but I was going to die. He had been watching… Watching all of us… He pulled me into the void and used pieces of his soul to keep me from dying. It felt like years but when he got me out, only a year had passed. I don't know if it was the trauma of the void or the spot weld on my soul that took the memories for so long but I was alive. For the first few years he was like and imaginary friend and then I seemed to just let everything slid by. I had nightmares but I could never see anything or totally hear anything. Somethings would trigger episode, like Chara was trying to gain control again but each time, I would just come out of it." I looked at him. He had finished cooking and had set all the pans aside to cool. He was in the process of putting everything on the table as I continued but he still didn't look at me.

"I… I should've known it wouldn't be that easy and I guess Chara's name was a trigger for me. I got pulled into the Void again. That space between worlds and Chara was waiting for me. WE fought with all the strength I had but it wasn't enough. I was going to die again." I grabbed the cup of hot tea in front of me. "I knew I would have just enough strength to reset…." I looked up at him.

His eyes had gone dark and he seemed frozen, hands on either side of his coffee mug as she sat across from me at the little round table.

"But I couldn't do that to you. Not again. Not after all the bullshit I had put you through when I had lost control. The worst part was… I felt like I wouldn't get to say goodbye…" I started to cy but I kne I had to finish it.

"So I gave up… Until Gaster showed up… we ripped out the shards of my soul that I was missing… and he put them back where they belonged…" I cried.

"But I'm still missing one piece…" I placed my mug on the table and dropped my head into my hands and sobbed.

I heard Sans chair scrap against the floor as he stood and walked toward me. I cringed, waiting to die. Waiting for a bone or a blaster to come and kill me as he stood beside me. Instead he wrapped his arms around me and let me cry into his shirt.

"i know…" He mumbled. "i know… i looked.. i couldn't help myself…" He rubbed my back and hummed a bit as I clutched the bottom of his spine.

"but i think i found it…" he whispered into my ear.

I could feel him teleport us to his bedroom and I felt myself sink in the edge of the bed. Slowly he peeled my shirt off from my back and motioned for me to lie back as he pulled off his jacket and shirt.

We were both dressed in sleep pants and I had neglected to put on a bra that morning but I laid back as he asked. He joined me a second later flopping backward, causing me to bounce a little. He took his hand and guided my chin in his direction so I was looking at him. We hadn't been together since before the episode so I blushed a little when he ran his hand down the front of my chest and placed his hand on my mating mark.

"i have it… and you have a piece of mine…" he pulled my soul out slowly, his eyes never leaving mine.

Curiosity won out and I turned my head to look at my soul again. The piece that I though had been missing was there, a bright blue sliver down the center. It filled all the nooks and crannies along the way. I placed my hand underneath it and scooted back on the bed until my back met the wall. Sans did the same, pulling his own soul out in the process. His looked like mine had but instead of blue filling the gaps, it was red.

We sat in silence, both of our souls glowing in the dim light of the room. They slowly turned toward each other, the gold stings connecting once again and dragging each other closer. This time Sans leaned into me, pushing his soul forward, and grabbing my right hand, intertwining his fingers with mine, our souls trapped in the palms of our hands. The was another flash and Sans used this and his magic to pull me on top of him.

"i forgave you years ago kiddo…" preferring his nickname for me.

I laid my head against his chest, our fingers still intertwined and fell asleep again.

There were no better dreams than the one I was in.

[One year later]

He was going to fuck this up somehow… He knew it. He had planned a nice dinner out for them last month and had forgotten the ring at home and just last week he had chickened out as they watched fireworks. How Pap had convinced him to do it in the old Judgement Hall, he would never know.

Frisk was talking a walk with the others through their times in the Underground. Everyone had thought it was a great idea to show Valen and Lyra where their little family had come from and Liz had even tagged along with Grillby to see the sights. The kids were only a year old but monster children seemed to grow quickly so although they couldn't talk in intelligible sentences, they were already up and running with everyone else.

Sans has told everyone he was too tired but Papyrus had clued them all into the plan and as their voices started to ring through the halls, they all stayed back.

It was like waiting for a nightmare to become a dream as Frisk walked through the large double doors, alone.

Seeing him peel away from one of the columns, she froze.

"hey kiddo…" He stopped. He had had a speech planned. Something witty. But it all went out the window when he saw her.

She was wearing an old purple and blue sweater with high waist skinny jeans and a pair of hiking boots. She had chopped all her hair off and now it seemed to curl around her face, gently brushing her chin. He walked forward, closer than he ever had before and stood in front of her.

"i've got a question for you…" Even the question slipped his mind. Something about change and being a better person. Instead he settled into what he knew best.

"knock knock…"

"That's not a question but…Who's there?"

"mary…"

"Mary who?

He got down on one kneecap, his right hand coming out of his pocket to produce a small blue box. He opened it and looked up at her. Her eyes had returned to their original green after everything and she was stunning in the golden light. It took him a second before he remembered what he was going to say.

"Marry me?"

He felt more than saw her drop to her knees and hug him.

"Oh Sans… Yes. I will totally marry you! But did you have to use a knock-knock joke?" She laughed into his shoulder.

"kinda forgot what i was gonna say so, yeah…" He used his left hand to scratch his head before he hugged her back.

Papyrus was the first to run from where the group had been standing in the open door watching to hug the couple on the floor.

"WOWIE! NOW I HAVE YOU AS A SISTER, HUMAN! NYEH HEHEH!" Papyrus leaned back as Sans took the ring out of the box and placed it on her left ring finger.

He had toiled over the design of the ring for months with Grillby before deciding on a blue, heart shaped diamond on a simple gold band. One he had finished placing the ring on her finger, she kissed him on the teeth and helped him stand back up as the rest of their friends came forward.

Alphys was pregnant now so Undyne was carrying her with all the love and attention the fish woman had. Toriel and Asgore held their children's hands and Mettaton came to stand by Papyrus. Grillby and Liz were last to stroll in, hand in hand, his fire crackling brighter as they moved to congratulate the couple.

Sans watched his friends and family fawn over the ring as he leaned against a nearby pillar. Things couldn't get any better than this.


End file.
